In later works the two male leads, Nick Nolte and Peter Strauss, each played a role originated by Gregory Peck. Nolte starred in the Peck role in Cape Fear and Strauss in a TV Movie, The Yearling.
Nick Nolte said that when he played a young man in the early scenes of the project, he weighed about 160 pounds. When he played a middle aged man in the later scenes, he weighed over 180 pounds.
The mini-series makes a major plot change from the original novel. In the book, Julie Prescott is a minor character who briefly dates Rudy. Her story is actually that of Gretchen Jordache, Rudy and Tommy's sister, who does not appear at all in the mini-series.
After the fight with Tom Jordache, Falconetti is taken off the ship with his left eye bandaged up. When we see him later he has his right eye covered with the black patch.
When Tom picks up his son from the military academy, in a long shot he is leaning on his car roof with his right elbow. Switch to a close up and he is not leaning at all. Switch back to the long shot and he is still leaning just as before.
During Book One, Chapter Nine, Tom Jordache is on a ship in the New York Bay in 1962, in the background you can plainly see the World Trade Center Twin Towers. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Center were in August, 1966.