Despite initially high expectations including a well-received screening at the 1971 Venice International Film Festival, the film was a critical and financial disaster. Dissatisfied with the finished product, Universal Pictures gave the film a staggered, limited release under multiple alternative titles. Its poor reception led to Hopper's self-imposed exile from Hollywood for several years, not directing another film until "Out of the Blue" (1980). In the decades since its initial release, it has undergone a critical reappraisal, and has become a cult classic.