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."
The cast and crew had to leave the prison walking in a line, single file, every night so the guards could ensure that no inmates escaped. One night, Charles Weldon recalled, "As I was walking out, a guard asked me to stand to one side. I should have realized something was wrong, but I obeyed him without a second thought." A moment later, Weldon found himself marched toward a cell block, along with the inmate extras. Fortunately, the film's production coordinator noticed one of the actors was missing, and rushed back to the prison. Weldon added "The guard told me, 'I could have sworn you were one of our guys.' He was profusely apologetic. But I didn't mind. To an actor, there couldn't have been a higher compliment."
350 Arizona State Prison inmates worked as extras in the film.
The picture grossed $101.3 million at the box office in the U.S., making it the third highest grossing movie of 1980, behind Nine to Five (1980) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).