Development David Keith originally signed only to star in the film. When the intended director bailed out, Keith lobbied to direct as well, in what would have been his first helming effort. Photography was slated to start in the fall of 1986. However, the film ended up being delayed. Instead, Keith made his directorial debut with
The Curse, another
Trans World Entertainment production. In the meantime, he rewrote the original script, which was a straightforward adventure, to make it more humorous. He also added the part of the husband, which was written especially for stand-up comedian Brant von Hoffman.
Argentina, where TWE executive Eduard Sarlui had already made films, and
Thailand were considered as locations, before
Sri Lanka was chosen. Keith departed for the country for prep work on February 19, 1987, right after finishing post-production on
The Curse.
Filming Principal photography started on March 30, 1987, and extended deep into the month of June. The first part of the shoot was spent in the capital of
Colombo, and the crew moved on to
Kandy mid April, where they used
Peradeniya Botanical Gardens and the
Mahaweli River. At the end of May, the crew relocated to Ranna and its lagoon on the southern coast. It took place in humid and hot conditions, up to 110 °F, while only five rooms at the main hotel used by production had air conditioning. During a scene where actors were tied up with vines, they developed an allergic reaction. Shower was the most affected and had to be sent all the way back to
Los Angeles for treatment. For the actress' sex ritual scene, Keith consulted with her beforehand, and made sure to get through it in as few takes as possible. The film's contents generated a small controversy in Sri Lanka when some revealing pictures from the shoot were published in the
Sunday Divaina, a local tabloid. The deadly
Aluth Oya massacre, which happened during filming, caused some concern for relatives back in the U.S., but the crew was not affected. Buck Malone was originally going to fly a larger aircraft, the
Grumman HU-16 Albatross, but efforts to procure one fell through. A derelict
Lake Buccaneer was sourced from a local businessman with only days to go before the beginning of the plane scenes in late May. It was hastily repaired, but the wing spars were broken during transportation, forcing a return to base. When it finally arrived, it was not airworthy. The external lights did not work, which attracted the attention of the
Sri Lankan Air Force, the bilge pumps were defective and a gear door needed to be sealed shut with sewing thread for one take off. Yet, the production designers insisted on applying paper onto the hull to make it look even more rickety. The plane and the helicopter used by the crew were flown by local army pilots. For the takeoff scene, they were asked to fly under the Botanical Gardens' suspended bridge, but this was deemed unsafe. They flew above, and still received a stall warning when they cleared nearby Primrose Hill. ==Release==