McRay as Cleopatra (Nero's navigator) Wendy Bartel as Laurie Jack Favorite as Henry Sandy Ignon as FBI Agent John Landis as Mechanic Darla McDonell as Rhonda Bainbridge Roger Rook as Radio Operator Wendy Dio as Blonde Masseuse Production Development and writing Roger Corman wanted to make a futuristic action sports film to take advantage of the advance publicity of Rollerball (1975). He optioned a short story by Ib Melchior and hired Robert Thom to adapt it. Director Paul Bartel felt this was unshootable, so Charles B. Griffith rewrote it. Corman wanted Peter Fonda to play the lead, but he read the script and said it was too ridiculous to make, so David Carradine was cast instead; Carradine wanted to take on a role that would make people think of him as more than just Caine on Kung Fu and give him a leg up on a movie career. Carradine was paid 10% of the film's gross. Bartel later recalled "We had terrible script problems; David had to finish his Kung Fu series before starting and we had bad weather. We all worked under terrible pressure. Roger and I had an essential disagreement over comedy. He took out a lot of the comedy scenes. He may have been right and was probably more objective." In a 1982 interview, Bartel said, "Most of my guilty pleasures in this film were ripped out by the roots by Roger Corman before the film ever saw the light of day and substituted with crushed heads and blood squibs. Nevertheless, there is a joke about the French wrecking our economy and telephone system that I still find amusing. And I am pleased by the scene introducing the Girl Fan (played very effectively by my sister Wendy) who is to sacrifice herself beneath the wheels of David Carradine's race car and wants to meet him so that the gesture will have 'meaning'." Release Home media Shout! Factory released a Deluxe Edition DVD and Blu-ray on June 22, 2010, in Region 1/A. Previous video editions were released on VHS and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment and New Concorde, among other studios. Reception Box office According to Variety, the film earned $4.8 million in rentals in the United States. Critical response Contemporary reviews were mixed. Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times wrote that the film had "nothing to say beyond the superficial about government or rebellion.