The Vietnam sequence cost $400,000 to film, which was 20% of the movie's budget of $2 million.
When the film was released, some censors overseas wouldn't allow the film to be shown unless considerable cuts were made. They wouldn't let movies show "bad guys" getting away with their crimes, and wanted them brought to justice, so the audiences would be sure to get the message that "crime doesn't pay".
Steve James originally read for the small part of the bartender. However, writer and director James Glickenhaus was so impressed with his reading that he cast him in the part of Michael.
The opening Vietnam scene (filmed at Indian Dunes National Park in California) was the same location where Vic Morrow and two child extras were tragically later killed on the John Landis' 'Time Out' segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). The fatal scene with Vic Morrow and two child extras in the 'Time Out' segment was also set in Vietnam.
Even though the film's end credits say, "filmed in Vietnam". The opening Vietnam scene was actually filmed at Indian Dunes National Park in California.