Prior to filming, Arizona State Prison Warden Robert Raines had tried to organize a rodeo for 2 years. The biggest obstacle was the cost of constructing an arena, complete with grandstand, stables, and livestock chutes. When Columbia Pictures inquired about renting the prison for a film shoot, he saw a way to realize his dream. If security could be maintained, the prison was available for a fee which matched the budget for the new rodeo grounds. Raines said, "There was a fringe benefit we didn't anticipate. Morale in the prison was never higher. Some 350 inmates signed on as extras, playing themselves, and the rest, even the most notorious troublemakers, stayed on their best behavior. There were simply no incidents."

It's never explained why the four escapees (Skip, Harry, Rory and Jesus) each go through different and complicated paths to get out, instead of going through the same way that Skip did. Also, it's never explained why Grossberger doesn't attempt to escape, and prefers to stay in prison (other than the possibility that the filmmakers didn't want the protagonists to help the escape of a mass murderer.)

The original 1999 DVD and the current Blu-Ray by Image Entertainment restores bits of footage absent from previous video versions.(the VHS copies were transferred from a slightly damaged 35mm print of the film and the print damage caused this), during the transition from the prison cafeteria to the activity yard in which after Harry is told by Rory that he killed his stepfather by slapping his hand in which Harry takes his hand and pats it lightly a few times and then a shot of the prison yard before cutting to the various outside activities with the inmates.

Edited into Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!! (2003)