While the film was a commercial failure, the arcade video games based on it proved to be a tremendous hit and actually out-grossed the film.
The film was disqualified from receiving an Academy Award nomination for special effects, because the Academy felt at the time that using computer generated effects was "cheating".
The state-of-the-art computer used for the film's key special effects had only 2MB of memory and 330MB of storage.
The programmers' cubicles at Encom were shot using the actual programmers' cubicles at Walt Disney Studios's Information Technology group. A matte painting was used to expand the area to a size more appropriate to a software company.
To inspire the actors, arcade games were placed on the production sets and could be played during downtime. Jeff Bridges apparently was the most adept at the games and found it hard to tear himself away from a game to shoot a scene.
Steven Lisberger: man dressed in black at Flynn's arcade, coming from center front and walking to the right, and whose face is visible when he releases a blue tee clad blonde employee he grabbed as they crossed (around 17'32).