Cesar Montano agreed to scale down his talent fee (reported to be 5 million pesos per movie). He also cancelled everything else on his schedule to concentrate on training for his role. His tutorials involved languages (Rizal spoke Spanish, French, German and Latin), fencing, painting, drawing, sculpture, and other skills that the national hero excelled in.
Shown on 12 June 1998, the movie was one of the highlights of festivities for the Philippine Centennial celebrations.
Director Marilou Diaz-Abaya, a University of the Philippines film graduate, enlisted the aid of three known UP professors as screenplay consultants - Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, Dr. Randy David, and Asst. Prof. Danton Remoto.