''Hot Potato'' begins in Chang Lan, a fictional country somewhere in east Asia. The villain Carter Rangoon (Sam Hiona) orchestrated the kidnapping of a U.S. senator's daughter a Ms. June Dunbar (Judith Brown (actor)). Rangoon's demands were to see aid to Chang Lan or Ms. Dunbar would be executed. The U.S. was in a difficult situation. They were not welcome in that area of the world and had little influence in the region. They sent in whom the general (Ron Prince) described as their best man, Black Belt Jones (Jim Kelly).