片中，男主角马诺洛（墨西哥演员迭戈·鲁纳配音），要击败情敌华金（查宁·塔图姆配音），赢得爱人玛利亚（佐伊·索尔达娜）的芳心。为此，他不但必须在剑术上胜过马诺洛，以及击剑高手玛利亚本人，还得穿越“铭记之地”（The Land of the Remembered），抵挡种种诱惑，重回人间。
　　影片瑰丽斑斓，色彩丰富，充满墨西哥文化元素。墨西哥人认为，死亡是生命的归宿，也是新生的开始。每年11月的前两天为传统节日“鬼节”（Dia de Muertos），全国都要隆重庆祝，带着面具到处游玩，面包和糖果都装饰着骷髅的形象。片中“铭记之地”的色彩、乐器乃至食物，以及马诺洛的骷髅造型，都从“鬼节”的传统习俗中汲取灵感。

　　布朗博士（克里斯托弗•洛伊德 Christopher Lloyd 饰）总是有些稀奇古怪的发明。在一次试验他发明的时光机器时，他找来了忘年交高中生马丁（迈克尔•J•福克斯 Michael J. Fox 饰）。岂料实验过程中博士被歹徒杀害了，马丁慌乱中架着时光机逃跑，回到了30年前。
　　马丁遇到了30年前的父亲乔治（克利斯丁•格拉夫 Crispin Glover 饰）和母亲洛莲（莉•汤普森 Lea Thompson 饰）。马丁一边找寻30年前的布朗博士，好让自己回到未来；一边尽力撮合乔治和洛莲，以免自己在以后消失了。但乔治为人懦弱，马丁在撮合过程中弄巧成拙让洛莲爱上了自己。还有令人讨厌的贝夫从中作梗，令马丁恼怒不已。
　　马丁周旋在他的双亲之间，还要尽快找到博士，想办法回到未来……

　　Wealthy Rollo Treadway (Buster Keaton) suddenly decides to propose to his neighbor across the street, Betsy O'Brien (Kathryn McGuire), and sends his servant to book passage for a honeymoon sea cruise to Honolulu. When Betsy rejects his sudden offer however, he decides to go on the trip anyway, boarding without delay that night. Because the pier number is partially covered, he ends up on the wrong ship, the Navigator, which Betsy's rich father (Frederick Vroom) has just sold to a small country at war.
　　Agents for the other small nation in the conflict decide to set the ship adrift that same night. When Betsy's father checks up on the ship, he is captured and tied up by the saboteurs. Betsy hears his cry for help and boards the ship to look for him, just before it is cut loose.
　　The Navigator drifts out into the Pacific Ocean. The two unwitting passengers eventually find each other. At first, they have great difficulty looking after themselves, but adapt after a few weeks. At one point, they sight a navy ship and hoist a brightly-colored flag, not realizing it signals that the ship is under quarantine. As a result, the other vessel turns away.
　　Finally, the ship grounds itself near an inhabited tropical island and springs a leak. While Rollo dons a deep sea diving suit and submerges to patch the hole, the black natives canoe out and take Betsy captive. When Rollo emerges from the ocean, the natives are scared off, enabling him to rescue Betsy and take her back to the ship. The natives return and try to board the ship. After a fierce struggle, Rollo and Betsy try to escape in a small dinghy. It starts to sink, and the natives swiftly overtake them in their canoes. Just when all seems lost, a navy submarine surfaces right underneath them and they are saved.