Sally Field (Celeste Whitman) has stated that this is her least favorite of her movies. She did it mainly "for the paycheck", just like Sir Michael Caine (Captain Mike Turner).
Nominated for Worst Picture at the Hastings Bad Cinema Society's 2nd Stinkers Bad Movie Awards in 1979.
This movie went into production before The Swarm (1978) was released. That movie was the beginning of the end for the big-budget/all-star disaster movie genre, when it tanked at the box-office. The failure of this movie, and When Time Ran Out... (1980) was the death knell. All three were produced and/or directed by the self-proclaimed "Master of Disaster" Irwin Allen.
Producer and director Irwin Allen instructed composer Jerry Fielding to time the main title music to come to a loud crescendo when Allen's credit came on-screen. Allen was reportedly furious when this bit of self-aggrandizement drew laughter from audiences.
John Wayne had been offered the lead role in 1978 and expressed interest in the project, but changed his mind after reading the script.