Rutger Hauer played the descendant of the Josh Randall character, who was played by Steve McQueen on the western television series, Au nom de la loi (1958).
According to writer and director Gary Sherman, there were two other actors considered for the part of Nick Randall. One was James Caan and the other was Mel Gibson, who was still largely unknown outside of Australia at the time. The producers settled on Rutger Hauer for the role though since Hauer's agent reduced his usual fee for a leading part. It would have cost twice as much to get Caan or Gibson for the role which made the decision an easy one.
When this movie was released, it met with numerous critical reviews which were skeptical of its premise: that Middle Eastern terrorists would actually come to the United States and attack soft targets like a movie theater.
Actor Ted White who portrays Pete, Charlie Higgins friend in the bar & the store robbery, also portrayed killer Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.
Randall uses the end toggles of a garrote to lift the man hole cover in the parking basement. To cut away the rubber seal on the window frame, he used a wallet knife which was commonly seen in Survivalist catalogues in the 1980s.