Was never given a release in the United States aside from its USA premiere as an official entry in the Newport Beach International Film Festival, which lasted from April 3rd until April 13th, 1997. Distribution of the film in the U.S market was hampered due to the fact that the Canadian territory had been sold prior to filming. The major studios decided, in spite of their keen interest in the film and its A-List cast, including Hoskins and Dan Aykroyd, that it was too much of a financial risk to invest in prints and advertising, in the absence of total North American Territory rights and their projected box office revenues.
The first live-action theatrical motion picture originated on digital high definition video for distribution and exhibition in 35mm film. Two-time Academy Award© winner Freddie Francis photographed the movie with the Sony HDC-500 digital high definition camera system. Following the successful completion of this ground-breaking 'experiment', Sony along with Panavision developed the next generation of this camera system, the Sony HDC-750 for George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" (1999) and the Sony/Panavision HDW-F900, which Lucas utilized in the production of "Star Wars:Episode II-Attack Of The Clones" (2002). Director Bob Hoskins discovered this system whilst filming the Television mini-series "World War II: When Lions Roared" (1994) in the role of Winston Churchill and decided he would introduce this Sony HDTV system to the theatrical motion picture industry starring and directing his next feature film, "Rainbow"
The complicated shots where the characters are spinning through the rainbow were achieved by having the actor motionless constructing a rig that would rotate the camera 720 degrees around his body.
Costume designer Janet Campbell was told by producers that they wanted the film to have a timeless look to it so she avoided dressing the young actors in grunge fashions and instead gave them a "classic look".