The Byzantine Fire, a sacred ruby on loan from Turkey to the United States for exhibition, no sooner arrives in Los Angeles than it is stolen by Eastern religious extremists and hidden inside the safe of a local jewelry store. When professional burglar and jewel thief Gus Cardinale (Christopher Lambert) breaks into the store and inadvertently steals the Byzantine Fire, he finds himself being chased around Los Angeles by the LAPD, the entire Los Angeles criminal element (whom the police have been mercilessly harassing in order to find the thief), two less-than-competent CIA agents, Turkish government agents and a not-too-tightly-wrapped female Armenian terrorist. Now Gus, with the help of his wacky sidekick (Christopher Lloyd) and his girlfriend (Kim Greist), must figure out a way to not only return the Byzantine Fire without getting caught but also stay alive long enough to do so.