The concept of the film arose when Revaz Gabriadze told Georgiy Daneliya a story about a pilot who lived in Kutaisi (Georgia) and locked his plane to the ground with a chain. However, it was to be screened only years later. The original script of this movie was entitled "Nichevo osobennovo..." ("Nothing Special...") and had an entirely different plot but a friend of Daneliya's, a writer named Maksud Ibragimbekov, remembered the story about the pilot and the chain in a conversation with Daneliya and the latter decided to replace the story literally days before filming. Vakhtang Kikabidze recalled later that most of the film was shot without a script and that during filming, he had an impression that they were fooling around rather than working. The line "Nichevo osobennovo" remained in the film (it was said by Mimino on a plane).

When Mimino is talking to the old woman besides his helicopter on the plateau the type of the helicopter (riveted to no-riveted body) and the size and shape of the mountains seen in the background change between the shots.

The premiere version that was shown on the Moscow International Film Festival was cut by the scene in which Valiko is calling an immigrant in Tel Aviv by mistake. The immigration topic was a political issue and the international public wasn't supposed to see it. The festival version was the only cut print (which later has been reportedly destroyed by the director); the theatrical release was uncut.

Featured in The Other Day 1961-2003: Our Era: Namedni 1978 (1997)