Shizumanu Taiyō is based on a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki which centers on Hajime Onchi, an employee of "NAL," a large national airline.

The first part of the novel focuses on Onchi's activity as the chairman of the employees' union in the 1960s; his reward for fighting for better working conditions for the staff is a series of postings abroad, to Pakistan, Iran, and finally Kenya, a destination to which the company does not even fly.

JAL objected strongly to both the novel and the film, stating that they were defamatory to the airline and disrespected the victims of the actual Flight 123.

The cast of the film includes Ken Watanabe as Onchi, with Kōji Ishizaka, Kyōko Suzuki, Yasuko Matsuyuki and Tomokazu Miura in supporting roles.

The violininst Diana Yukawa, whose father died in the real-world crash of JAL Flight 123, was involved in the music for the film.