When the movie was nominated for 1981 Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, author Pat Conroy's father called him and said, "You and me got nominated for Academy Awards, your mother didn't get squat."
According to Pat Conroy, Lieutenant Colonel "Bull" Meecham is based entirely on his own father, Donald Conroy, a Marine fighter pilot who referred to himself in the third person as "The Great Santini." After the novel was published, Donald Conroy would often accompany his son to book signings, and would autograph his son's novels with, "Donald Conroy - The Great Santini."
The movie was originally released directly to cable and airlines, under the title "The Ace." When the New York Times reviewed it very favorably, it was pulled from cable and released to theaters under the title "The Great Santini." Another factor in this release was a 1981 strike by the Writers' Guild of America, which halted new production. In order to generate any income at all, the studios needed to release previously shelved movies, and this was one such movie.
The original novel had a joke about two Bulls and a field of cows, which is where "Bull" got his nickname. This joke was repeated by Robert Duvall's character in Colors (1988).
The 19th century South Carolina house, where much of the movie takes place, is known as the "Edgar Fripp Home" as well as "Tidalholm." It was built c.1853 with 7 bedrooms, and 8 bathrooms covering 5,868 square feet and is in the Old Point section of Beaufort, on the waterfront. In 2023 it was valued at $3.4M. Much of the film was shot on location in Beaufort, South Carolina. Tidalholm was later used in The Big Chill (1983). Location photography also took place in the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, a training facility on Parris Island, South Carolina.