All space-battle footage is from Battlestar Galactica (1978). Several shots of the Galactica itself are shown in reverse.
The movie was filmed mostly in a factory warehouse. Aware that the numerous large windows with daylight pouring through would spoil the illusion of the Southern Sun actually being in space, cinematographer Vincent G. Cox used color filters to give the sunlight an orange-red look, and asked David Winters to insert a line explaining that the windows were actually part of the Southern Sun's engines and/or reactor system. Unfortunately, the film processing lab mistakenly corrected the sunlight back to its original color, and Winters' replacement, Neal Sundstrom, never added any explanation for why the windows were there.
The sequences with the Bellerians were added in post-production after the initial cut of the movie came in too short. Neither David Winters nor Neal Sundstrom wanted to come back to direct the sequences, so David A. Prior was hired to direct them instead.
One of the most popular episodes/ worse movies ever riffed on an episode of MST3K. Season 8/episode 20. Currently available on Netflix under season 2 episode 17.
David Winters had to drop out early in filming, after a close relative died. Neal Sundstrom directed most of the film. However, Sundstrom was not pleased with the end result, blaming a lack of care and attention in pre-production, and refused to be credited as anything more than co-director. Winters was equally unhappy with the film, and attempted to have his name replaced with Alan Smithee, but his contract would not allow it.