John Spencer's last film. Between its release and his death from a heart attack in December 2005, he eschewed any movie roles due to his full-time job playing Leo McGarry on The West Wing (1999).
It is 25 minutes into the film before Captain Boyd, who is in virtually every scene, utters his first full sentence.
Partially, and very loosely, inspired by the "Donner Party" disaster of 1847.
2 weeks into production, director Milcho Manchevski was sacked. Robert Carlyle reached out to his friend Antonia Bird to step in, having enjoyed his working relationship with her when they made Face (1997) and Priest (1994).