Anecdotes

The time elapsed between the first day of shooting and the first public screening of the finished film was ten weeks.

John Woo chose to do this film because he wanted to do something more light-hearted after The Killer (1989) and Une balle dans la tête (1990) (which flopped in Hong Kong on their initial releases). The strategy seems to have paid off; the movie was successful in Hong Kong and allowed Woo to get funding for his next movie, À toute épreuve (1992).

The painting Joe and Jim must steal for their father is a real painting, "The Harem Servant Girl" by Paul-Desire Trouillebert, but the version seen in the movie has been cut down by about two thirds. The painting used in the movie ends at the girl's waist, but the full painting goes down to her calves, and shows that she is carrying a hookah pipe on a tray (only the top of which can be seen in the movie version).

Jay Chattaway's music from Le scorpion rouge (1988) is used in the film.

Music from Wang Chung's "To Live And Die In LA" soundtrack is used multiple times throughout the film.