One of Harrison Ford's favorite films. When Phillip Noyce was chosen to direct Patriot Games (1992), Ford asked the producers who was the director because he had never heard of him before (and he had the power to veto the director if he didn't like or know). He was told that Noyce directed Dead Calm (1989), which was a big hit but Ford wasn't familiar with the movie. But when he asked about other films directed by Noyce and Newsfront (1978) was mentioned, he said he loved that movie and trusted the studio with their choice of director.
Much of the newsreel footage seen in the film is real, including the footage seen early on in which the cameraman was filming the Japanese sniper who killed him.
This picture was one of fifty Australian films selected for preservation as part of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Kodak / Atlab Cinema Collection Restoration Project.
David Elfick hired Bob Ellis to write the screenplay because he had admired the musical play written by Ellis, "The Legend of King O'Malley". Ellis says he wrote the first draft with Howard Rubie, who was a former cameraman for Cinesound and thought he was going to direct it. Anne Brooksbank later contributed to the script. Phillip Noyce was then hired as director and worked with Ellis. Ellis fell out with Noyce and demanded his name be taken off the credits. Ellis said: "There was some nonsense about how long it was; we'd set it out, one short scene per page and it finally came out about 300 pages or so but, in fact, it was maybe two and a quarter hours long, which wasn't too bad then or now for something that covered 10 years. But a legend started about how huge it was. When I saw it, I was appalled. I could only see what was missing and abruptly took my name off it. Then when it won all the prizes, I sort of shamefacedly put my name back on it. It was a quite painful experience and I think a very good film, but not as good a film as might have been made. One of the models for it was the film, Yanks, which was a moment in history in particular culture perfectly captured. It had a lot more than the politics in it but, partly because of the budget and partly because of the length, it was pruned back to the politics. Now, the politics was all there in the original but it was surrounding other things, such as the way people spent their Christmases. That was removed."
Actors Wendy Hughes and Chris Haywood met during production and were married not long after. They had a daughter, Charlotte, circa 1980.