When Amy Madigan read for the film, she read for the part of the lead character's sister. Madigan told Walter Hill that the best part in the script was the lead character's sidekick. That part called for a man and the character's name was Mendez. The part was rewritten for Madigan and was renamed McCoy.
According to Walter Hill, the film's origins came out of a desire to make what he thought was a perfect film when he was a teenager and put in all of the things that he thought were "great then and which I still have great affection for: custom cars, kissing in the rain, neon, trains in the night, high-speed pursuit, rumbles, rock stars, motorcycles, jokes in tough situations, leather jackets and questions of honour".
This was intended to be the first in a trilogy of action films starring Michael Paré as Tom Cody. However, its failure at the box office had put an end to the project. Despite this, Pare and Deborah Van Valkenburgh reprised their roles as Cody and Reva in Road to Hell (2008), the unofficial sequel to this film which has not seen an official physical or digital release though its trailer and renditions of "Nowhere Fast," "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young" and end credits have surfaced online.
Walter Hill was so impressed with Diane Lane's work on the film that he wrote additional scenes for her during the shoot.
The Attackers were the real-life band-mates of Laurie Sargent, who provided the singing voice for Ellen Aim. Their band was called Face to Face and they played mainly "new wave" music around the Boston area. The group split up in 1988.