For shooting the scenes on the plane, director Stuart Baird and production designer Maher Ahmad looked at real prisoner transfer planes, but were disappointed to find that they looked just like regular planes. As such, they came up with the design of the plane seen in the film - the feet restraints, the cage door, the mechanical locking system, the open toilet, et cetera.
Wesley Snipes disliked shooting scenes where he is in water (of which there are two in the film), as he cannot swim.
Tommy Lee Jones actually jumped in front of a car during shooting. They got the shot in one take, no stuntman.
In the original script, Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) was introduced dressed up as a priest. Stuart Baird and costume designer Louise Frogley didn't find this interesting enough, so they came up with the idea of the chicken outfit.