Martial art film standout Liang Chia-jen brings the same animalistic intensity from his early heroic bloodshed films to his Danger Has Two Faces tough, ex-cop character now relegated to becoming a pet store owner. The stern Police Superintendent Liu played by Chu Chiang sets the stage for his later role in John Woo's The Killer while new comer Fei Hsiang must do Serpico-like things to find out which cop is paid for by the mob.

Lui Yik-pang is reduced to his wits' end to rein the Golden Butterfly. Chong Tak-ming emerges as the suspect. The friendship and ties between former classmates Lui and Chong date back years ago. When the impoverished Chong turned to banditry, Lui abided by the law and arrested Chong. Chong repented and bore no grudges. Chong's daughter Ching-han and Lui's son Siu-man are lovers. Ching-han reinvents herself as a chivalrous bandit and robs the rich to help the poor after the imprisonment of her father and the death of her mother. Endowed with her father's gifts, Ching-han remains out of the law's reach, until she is tailed by the father enlisted in the police service. A bitter row ensues; the father's underling Sung Sing-biu snatches the stolen goods and activates the security system. Ching-han is prepared to turn herself in when Sung surrenders himself as a gesture of gratitude to his benefactor. Attending the wedding banquet, Lui brings his son and daughter-in-law a golden butterfly.

The plot deals with a search for a valuable pearl, dubbed the Buddha's Relic, which is sold to an unwitting Japanese emissary by a corrupt Ching Dynasty prince who seeks to steal it back for his own purposes.

Louie (Leslie Cheung), a spoiled pop star, has a one-night stand with beautiful dancer, Anita (Anita Mui). When Anita tells Louie that she dreamed of becoming a singer, he brings her to the stage and becomes a star. Anita has fallen in love with Louie, but Louie loves Julia (Joey Wong). However, Louie later finds out that Julia is dating his father, Kent (Paul Chu). Louie then leaves Hong Kong and heads to Paris leaving his career behind. Then he meets, Yuan Yu-shih (Cecilia Yip), a Vietnamese refugee that suffers from a war wound. In Paris, Louie lives his new life happily as a dishwasher with his new lover. However, his past life starts to come back when Anita comes to pay a visit.