In the near future, a mysterious plague wipes out almost every adult, leaving behind a world filled with orphans. Among those who survive are Lee [John Stockwell], a young man raised by a guardian named Albert [James Earl Jones] on a remote farm. Their quiet life is marked by a fragile hope and the sense that the old world of adults is gone for good. The story follows Lee as he faces a harsh, changing landscape where loyalty is tested and power is contested.
Fifteen years pass, and Lee sets out for the ruined remains of Los Angeles with a dream of joining the Clippers, a notorious motorcycle gang. He trails a convoy into a fenced-off building and quickly becomes a target of attention, first from Bolo, a formidable enforcer, and then from the workers who see him as a prize or a threat. Lee’s escape on his motorcycle marks the first pulse of a larger conflict that will pull him deeper into the city’s dangerous divide.
On the road into Clippers’ territory, Lee encounters the gang’s dynamics up close. He meets their leader Mick [Darrell Larson] and his second in command Whitey, while a wary reception awaits him. Lee’s request to join is rebuffed, and the group’s sense of unity is tested by distrust and competing interests. To ensure his safety, Mick dispatches Yogi [Rae Dawn Chong], an agile and capable rider, to escort Lee to the city limits. The two are chased by the Federal-aligned DAs, especially after they discover one of the earlier attackers has died from his injuries. The chase ends without a clean capture, pushing Lee and Yogi back toward Clippers’ stronghold. Inside the power dynamics of the gang, Whitey and Mick struggle over whether to hand Lee over to Ray, the DA leader, to preserve the fragile truce that forbids guns and killing. Sammy [Don Keith Opper] offers a counterproposal, shaping the next move in a tense game of trust and threat.
When Ray arrives, a brutal test is proposed: Lee must face the DAs’ best fighter in a combat trial to decide his fate. The plan continues as Ray heads to a Sunya factory where Bolo reports to Carver [Robby Benson], a ruthless figure who clearly believes in muscle over mercy. Wickings [Kim Cattrall], a representative of the Sunya Corporation, arrives to push a different agenda—recruiting Clippers to help Sunya’s broader effort to “restore” the city. Mick resists the lure of Sunya’s promises, and the tension between the gangs and the corporate interest grows darker and deeper.
The day of the test arrives, and the arena is charged with a mix of bravado and fear. Lee faces a female DA in combat, and though surprised by her ferocity, he defeats her without killing. The Clippers emerge victorious, and Lee is welcomed as a full member of the gang, signaling a new chapter in his life and the shifting balance of power in Los Angeles.
Back at the Sunya factory, Wickings pushes for allegiance, but she finds resistance in Bolo and Carver, who question whether Clippers can be molded into reliable workers. Wickings files a government report alleging that Sunya and its allies are willing to use armed force to recruit labor, but she learns that top authorization has already been granted for such measures. After confronting Bolo, Wickings escapes through a sewer system with a crucial schematic that could alter the city’s fate.
Tragedy returns with a brutal ambush during a funeral for Whitey, a reminder that loyalties can fracture in an instant. The attack leaves Mick wounded and leaves the Clippers splintered, forcing Lee, Wickings, Yogi, and a handful of survivors to flee toward safety. They reconnect with Albert at his farm, where a quiet romance blooms between Lee and Wickings, giving the group renewed hope and a clearer plan: retake the city from Sunya.
With renewed resolve, the Clippers fix up their bikes and join forces with Albert in his restored 1950s Cadillac. The plan is to storm the Sunya factory, but this time the resistance will be a united front, including the Clippers and the remaining DAs, who agree to join the push against Sunya’s stronghold. The campaign culminates in a daring infiltration: Wickings and Sammy disable power to the facility, plunging the compound into chaos and making it possible for the gang to strike. The assault is swift and chaotic, and Bolo arrives in force, threatening to turn the battle in Sunya’s favor.
Albert contributes in an unexpected way, using an explosive-laden remote-controlled plane to tear through Sunya’s defense and shift the momentum. The clash ends in a decisive blow when a second explosive plane crashes into Bolo, killing him. The final confrontation reaches its apex in the Sunya main building, where Carver—confident that the system will always have a replacement—meets a swift, brutal end at the hands of Ray, who arrives with a single, chilling word: "no," and then crushes Carver between his desk and the wall.
In the aftermath, the Clippers and the DAs formalize an alliance, transforming into the Clippers Corporation. Wickings aids in petitioning the Federal government for official control of the city, and the government accepts. Lee remains with the Clippers, their new leadership cemented, while Albert returns to his farm, choosing a quieter life after the fire of rebellion. The city begins to change from within, not just through force but through a shared dream of rebuilding what was lost, and the road ahead for the Clippers is now bound up with a cautious, hard-won peace.
