The film was a passion project for actor Ronny Cox who had co-written the script with this wife Mary.
According to Ronny Cox, he screened the film to Oscar winner Jerry Goldsmith, who really liked it and was very interested in the assignment. However, the production company ran out of money and the fee of $50,000 dollars that would secured Goldsmith's services.
Filmed for six weeks during June and July of 1983 in and around Las Cruces, New Mexico. One scene was filmed at White Sands National Monument, where temperatures that day reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit.
After the film had wrapped, there were a major rift between producers Robert L. Rosen and Sandy Howard. It got so bad that Ronny Cox had to testify against them at an arbitration hearing in regards to who was going to be in charge of the rights of the film.
One of the biggest regrets on the film according to actor and co-writer Ronny Cox was not hiring Jerry Goldsmith to write the music for the film. The film temp tracked with orchestral music and it played much greater in his opinion than Johnny Harris' score that ended up in the film, which was completely synthesized. The other was not having having the money for extra coverage scenes where it was a necessity.