While vacationing in Paris with some friends, young carefree student Maureen Winston is abducted in broad daylight by a gang of white slavers. Her family is desperate, especially her guilt-ridden older sister Margaret, who was the one who talked Maureen into taking a trip to see Europe. Despite some comforting words, the State Department has no idea where the girl is, which leaves her desperate family out of options. However, Grandpa Winston suggests that they should turn to pulp heroes like Remo Williams (a.k.a. The Destroyer), Mack Bolan (a.k.a. The Executioner) or Jake Speed (a character made-up for the movie) for help. Everyone believes it's just dementia talking until Margaret's best friend Wendy visits her the next day and finds a message addressed to Margaret under the door. The note only says that if Margaret wants to see her sister again, she should go to a sleazy bar near the peer. Driven by guilt, she does so and meets Jake Speed's assistant Desmond Floyd there. He explains that Jake is willing to take her case for free. Jake then finally shows up, but he seems like he's not all there. He explains to Margaret that her sister is being held by Sid, a sadistic murderous British white slaver and crime lord, who operates from a (fictional) African country, where a full blown armed rebellion is in progress. He also explains that all pulp fiction heroes are actually real (including Doc Savage) and that their novels are all based on their wild real-life adventures. Margaret buys this and agrees to travel there with Jake and Desmond. However, once there, she's attacked, almost blown up and almost sold into slavery by Jake, all as part of his plan which he neglected to explain to her. She eventually begins to suspect that there's something wrong with Jake and his friend and runs away. She finds her way to a consulate that's being evacuated due to heavy fighting. The consul explains that Jake and his friend are two infamous benign fraudsters, who actually believe that they are two pulp fiction heroes. However, when he asks Margaret to lead him to the barn where the two are religiously waiting for her return, it becomes perfectly clear that Jake, although not exactly at his best, is very much who he says he is, but the consul is not. Jake and Margaret are captured and taken at gunpoint to Jake's archnemesis Sid's villa, where Margaret's sister is being held as well. Can the good guys win, even in the 1980s?