The picture was a commercial failure at the Australian box-office. According to the Oz Movies website, the movie "while doing a million plus in revenue was better than many 10BA films at the time, relative to budget it was inadequate, and the film became notorious in the media as a prime example of a 10BA film with more ambition than audience (just like the other big budget Edgley [Michael Edgley] production about failed explorers Burke & Wills [Burke & Wills (1985)]). The film's commercial reputation as a disaster zone was reinforced by its failure to travel internationally, with only a limited release in the United States, and limited interest in other territories".
The amount of winning prize money for the Collangatta Gold iron-man surf live-saving competition was Australian $20,000 worth of gold bullion.
Director Igor Auzins and screenwriter Peter Schreck both conceived of this movie whilst working on the earlier Australian epic picture We of the Never Never (1982).
Rainfall destroyed exterior sets worth tens of thousands of Australian dollars including A$ 150,000 damage to a roof-top disco set, "The Roof Garden", the movie's biggest, which was situated on top of a Surfers Paradise four story car park.