This was the fifth collaboration of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. Previous films include Universal Soldier (1992), Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012), and The Expendables 2 (2012).
Jean-Claude Van Damme and Patrick Kilpatrick appeared together in Death Warrant (1990). Patrick Kilpatrick also utters the phrase "Welcome to hell" in both films.
The movie was initially written with Nicolas Cage and Mickey Rourke in mind to star.
The Captain says "make your course periscope depth." You "make your course" to a compass setting. You "bring the boat to periscope depth."
The USS Alabama, a WWII battleship located in Mobile where this was filmed, appears to be largely standing in for a much-late-date submarine.