Afghanistan, 1981, and the Soviet Union is locked in a futile and bloody battle with the Mujahedeen guerrillas. Separated from their patrol, the crew of a Russian T-62 tank engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the local insurgents led by Taj (Steven Bauer). The tyrannical tank commander Daskal (George Dzundza) wreaks havoc on a peaceful Afghani village, pushing the moral boundaries of the tank driver Koverchenko (Jason Patric) to the limits. Sensing mutiny, the psychotic Daskal abandons the disenchanted tanker to die in the desert at the hand of rebels, only to find he's sealed his own fate.