Mel Gibson cast himself in the role of McLeod only after he was unable to find any other satisfactory actor willing to take the part.
The scene between Justin and Charles on the mountain overlooking the water, was filmed on Bradbury Mountain, located in Pownal, Maine. Because of the steep fall to the water, the mountain has had, for many years, a protective fence on the side facing the water. The filmmakers took down the fence prior to filming and replaced it afterward.
The poetry Justin recites to himself as he is sitting alone by the fire is a translation of the first four lines of the Aeneid, an epic poem written in Latin, in the first century B.C. by Publius Vergilius Maro, better known in English as Virgil. The same lines are inscribed on the plaque on the clock Chuck had admired earlier, but with the words in a different order from the lines as written by Virgil.