This was one of the most lucrative movies of its day, with a box office of more than $1 million on a budget of $20,000.
In 1984, MTV showed the film in its original 3-D format. MTV offered 3-D viewing glasses by mail order ahead of the broadcast date.
The scenes on the viewscreen presented by Ro-Man come from a variety of sources. Shots of New York in apocalyptic ruins are matte paintings by Irving Block from Captive Women (1952). Shots of the headquarters of the Great Guidance (a rocket ship in launching position) was originally created for Rocketship X-M (1950), also painted by Block.
Reportedly, the film was shot entirely outdoors, without sets, in four days.
The 3-D Film Archive will be releasing a new 4K transfer of the film on Blu-ray and DVD. Both true 3-D and analgyph 3-D formats will be accessible on the discs, as well as standard 2-D. The discs are expected to be released in early 2022.