Clint Eastwood agreed to do this movie in exchange for the Warner Brothers studio letting him make his personal film project, White Hunter Black Heart (1990).
The film's "The Rookie" title was used around twelve years later for another Hollywood movie, an unrelated sports film, The Rookie (2002). The title was also used for 1959's The Rookie (1959).
In the initial car chase scene, after the Porsche is cut loose from the trailer and causes the backup that makes the yellow cab fly into the air and roll over, the rail used to roll the car is visible.
After Pulovski kills Strom, Strom disappears around the bend on the luggage belt, but he never shows up again while Pulovski and Ackerman sit in front of it.