The movie is both a tribute to, and satire of, pulp novels and their heroes. As a tribute to these stories, the movie is set in an alternate reality where, unknowingly to the general public, all of the famous pulp fiction heroes like Remo Williams, a.k.a. The Destroyer, Mack Bolan, a.k.a. The Executioner, and Doc Savage are real, and the novels about them are factual testimonies about their real-life adventures. In the movie, Jake Speed is just one of these real-life pulp heroes, and even talks about his famous colleagues once or twice. However, in real-life, unlike Remo Williams, Mack Bolan, and Doc Savage, Jake Speed is not an actual pulp fiction character, and was entirely made up for this movie, as satire on pulp archetypes and clichés.
A novelization of the film was authored under the pseudonym Reno Melon and first published by book publisher Gold Eagle/Harlequin in the film's release year on 1st June 1986 as a movie-tie with the picture's theatrical season.
Before Wayne Crawford cast himself in the lead role, several other actors read for the part of Jake, including Bruce Willis.
Wayne Crawford and Andrew Lane broke into Hollywood as the writers and producers of Valley Girl.
This picture was part of a cycle of films in the 'Indiana Jones' / Saturday afternoon matinee adventure mold that were made after the box-office success of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The movies included: Sky Pirates (1986), Jake Speed (1986), King Solomon's Mines (1985), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986), River of Death (1989), High Road to China (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Nate and Hayes (1983), Mother Lode (1982), Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983) (aka 'Treasure of the Four Crowns'), The Hunters of the Golden Cobra (1982), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).