This imaginative Japanese production presents a series of short films by lauded director Akira Kurosawa. In one chapter, a young boy spies on foxes that are holding a wedding ceremony; the following installment features another youth, who witnesses a magical moment in an orchard. In the segment "Crows," an aspiring artist enters the world of a painting and encounters Vincent van Gogh (Martin Scorsese). Many of the films in this inventive movie are tied together by an environmental theme.

Vietnam War hero Kowalski (Barry Newman) has become a pill-addicted driver for hire. Transporting a car from Colorado to California, he enlivens the journey by making a wager with his drug dealer: If the trip takes under 15 hours, Kowalski's latest amphetamine purchase is free. But Kowalski's recklessness on the road results in a much-publicized police chase. Radio jock Super Soul (Cleavon Little) covers the pursuit and turns Kowalski, who refuses to pull over, into a martyr for freedom.

A Parisian police chief has an affair, but unbeknownst to him, the boyfriend of the woman he's having an affair with is a bank robber planning a heist.

"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.