It’s the future and society has collapsed.  America is now controlled by the evil Commander Eastern (Richard Lynch) who, with the help of a propagandist known as Big Sister and a paramilitary leader named Oliver Queen (John Saxon), rules with an iron hand.  Colonel Slater (Christopher Mitchum) is the leader of the revolution that threaten to overthrow Eastern’s regime.

Two revolutionaries, Wille (Jay Roberts, Jr.) and Danny (Chuck Jeffreys), are stuck in one of Eastern’s prison.  Every day, they fight for their lives and they wait for a chance to escape.  That chances come in the form of Sabrina (the beautiful Elizabeth Kaitan), an alien who lands on our planet under the mistaken assumption that Earth is an utopia.

When Sabrina, Willie, and Danny finally manage to escape, they have to make it to Slater’s headquarters while avoiding the bounty hunter (Chris DeRose) who Queen has been sent to capture them.

A fairly standard rip-off of the Mad Max films, the most interesting thing about Aftershock is the cast.  I already mentioned Mitchum, Saxon, Lynch, and Elizabeth Kaitan but there are also appearances from Russ Tamblyn, Michael Berryman, Matthias Hues, and Deanna Oliver.  For a movie that looks cheap and doesn’t really bring anything new to the postapocalyptic genre, there are a lot of very talented people in this movie.  (Even talented people have to pay the bills.)  Most of them are only on for a few minutes.  The instantly forgettable Jay Roberts, Jr. and Chuck Jeffreys are the actual stars here.  Jeffreys was a stunt man who was famous for his resemblance to Eddie Murphy.  He looks good in the action scenes but otherwise, he and Roberts don’t make much of an impression.

At least Elizabeth Kaitan gets a decent amount of screentime.  Kaitan appeared in a lot of movies in the 80s and 90s.  None of the movies were very good.  She got stuck with roles like the girlfriend in Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2 and a victim in Friday The 13th Part VII.  Kaitan got roles primarily because she was beautiful but she had a likable screen presence and more than a little talent.  In Aftershock, she gives a convincing performance as a stranger in a strange land, one who has her own eccentric way of viewing things.  Her performance is the best thing about Aftershock and the main reason to watch.