The film opens in 1945, with American correspondent James O'Donnell (James Naughton) gaining entry to the Führerbunker by bribing a Soviet sentry with a packet of cigarettes.
The film then tells the story of the occupants of the bunker between January and May 1945 as an extended flashback. A number of historical events and the reactions of the bunker's residents are presented, including the encirclement of Berlin, Hitler's last meeting with Albert Speer and the attempts by Speer to sabotage Hitler's scorched earth policy.
Speer's abortive plan to kill Hitler in the bunker, Hitler's dismissal of Heinz Guderian, Hitler's firing of Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Goering, the failure of German forces to lift the siege, the murder of the Goebbels children, Hitler's wedding to Eva Braun, and the suicides of Hitler, Braun and the Goebbels'.
