Comet in the US on November 16, 1984, earning $3,580,578 in its opening weekend, coming in at third place. It stayed in theaters for six weeks and grossed $14,418,922 total in the US against a $700,000 budget. The film is also noted as one of the first mainstream films to carry the MPAA PG-13 rating. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 79% approval rating based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The consensus reads: "Valley Girl culture satire Night of the Comet gets lots of mileage out of its slapstick sci-fi zombie approach." Variety wrote that Eberhardt "creates a visually arresting B-picture in the neon-primary colors of the cult hit Liquid Sky", as well as pointing out similarities with Five, The Day of the Triffids, The Omega Man, Dawn of the Dead and Last Woman on Earth. They described the film as "a successful pastiche of numerous science fiction films, executed with an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek flair that compensates for its absence in originality." Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "a good-natured, end-of-the-world B-movie" whose "humor augments rather than upstages the mechanics of the melodrama". Neil Gaiman reviewed Night of the Comet for Imagine magazine, and stated that "one of the most amusing, witty, imaginative, and thought-provoking films I've seen that was made with no budget and is also cheap exploitation (you got all that?)." Home media Night of the Comet was released on VHS and Betamax videocassettes and CED Videodisc on August 30, 1985, and distributed by CBS/FOX Video. A second US VHS printing, distributed by Goodtimes Video, was released on August 30, 1990. MGM released the film on DVD in the US on March 6, 2007. The film was released in a Collector's Edition on Blu-ray by Shout! Factory on November 19, 2013. Sherilyn Connelly of The Village Voice criticized the synopsis on the back of the disc keep case, saying that it dumbs down the film and portrays the independent women as helpless stereotypes. Soundtrack A soundtrack for the film was released by Macola Records. The soundtrack's "Learn to Love Again", a love duet performed by Amy Holland and Chris Farren, plays during a scene between Regina and Hector and in the closing credits. Other songs include "The Whole World is Celebratin'" (also performed by Chris Farren), "Lady in Love" and "Unbelievable" by Revolver, "Strong Heart" by John Townsend,