In the envisioned year 2020, the film depicts a post-nuclear Texas that has regressed into a lawless, scorched frontier where society has fractured into small, vulnerable settlements and marauding war-bands. The world is a hybrid of futuristic ruin and old-world western aesthetics, where the collapse of central government has allowed neo-fascist paramilitary groups to seize control of vital resources, specifically remaining energy supplies and human labor.

The societal dynamic is defined by a reversion to feudalistic power structures, where control over a single refinery or "power supply" dictates the survival of an entire community. Earth is portrayed as a scarred, ecologically damaged landscape—though ironically filmed in lush Italian locations that contrast with the narrative's wasteland premise—where advanced technology exists only in the form of salvaged weaponry and jury-rigged vehicles. This alternate timeline divergence suggests a total breakdown of global trade and infrastructure following a mid-1980s nuclear conflict, resulting in a 21st century characterized by asymmetric warfare between motorcycle-mounted outlaws and horseback-riding resistance fighters.

Regarding specific predictions, the film accurately anticipated the centrality of private energy infrastructure as a flashpoint for conflict, though it drastically overestimated the degree of technological regression and the likelihood of nuclear-induced societal collapse by 2020. The depicted "New Order" bears a striking resemblance to modern concerns regarding militarized extremist factions occupying power vacuums, even if the film's gladiatorial combat and Russian roulette saloons remain firmly in the realm of exploitation tropes. Analysis-quality sources note that while the film's vision of the 21st century failed to manifest, its depiction of resource-driven micro-conflicts mirrors certain modern geopolitical instability patterns.