Dennis Hopper considered this movie a follow-up to Easy Rider (1969) in that this is what would have "likely happened" to the Easy Rider (1969) characters ten years later with Out of the Blue (1980) actually being made and released about eleven years after Easy Rider (1969).

According to film critic Roger Ebert, "when it premiered at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival, it caused a considerable sensation, and [Linda] Manz was mentioned as a front-runner for the best actress award. But back in North America, the film's Canadian backers had difficulties in making a distribution deal, and the film slipped through the cracks".

The punk rock band that Cebe drums for in the movie are the Canadian punk rock legends The Pointed Sticks.

Originally the film was titled "CeBe", but one day on the way to set, the Neil Young song "My My, Hey Hey" came on the radio, inspiring Dennis Hopper to change the title to "Out of the Blue".

Scottish band Primal Scream 's 2000 single "Kill All Hippies" (from their album XTRMNTR) takes its title from some of Linda Manz's dialogue in this movie, which it samples: "Destroy! Kill all hippies! Anarchy! Disco sucks! Subvert normality!"