This film was made 23-year-old Emilio Estevez the youngest person to ever write, direct, and star in a major motion picture. The record was broken by Xavier Dolan who did all the same functions at age 20 when he made J'ai tué ma mère (2009).
In an interview around 2000, Emilio Estevez was very dismissive of this film, referring to it as a "total vanity project."
John Wisdom (Emilio Estevez) can be seen on a bus adorned with the graffiti "Plate O' Shrimp", a reference to Repo Man (1984), which also starred Estevez.
The studio was concerned about Emilio Estevez's experience as a director. Thus, veteran filmmaker Robert Wise was hired to advise Estevez throughout the shoot; the former gained an executive producer credit for his services.