Walter Hill said in an interview some years after the movie was released that his version was much darker, had a very different setup and that the ending was much different from the final cut. He also expressed strong dislike for the way the studio ruined the movie but said that James Spader did a great job with his role.
Four different endings were filmed.
This was the first post-Alan Smithee film. For many years, directors who for whatever reason wished not to be credited for a movie and disassociate themselves from it would have their name replaced with the fake "Alan Smithee." After the film An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997), the name was too well known, and so the Directors Guild of America replace the name "Alan Smithee" with the name "Thomas Lee."
Geoffrey Wright, who was originally hired as director, walked away from the project two months before principal photography due to "creative differences." Apparently, he had an idea about shooting the entire movie in zero gravity, but MGM disagreed. Vincent D'Onofrio was originally cast as a computer tech but when Wright was fired, D'Onofrio walked out.