OVERALL: Draw

The Director's Expanded Version:
- The US re-release for the DTS track and anamorphic transfer.

Theatrical Cut:
- The Warner releases and the Austrian NSM release, with only minor language differences.

There are three versions of the film:
- 1992 Theatrical Cut (112 mins)
- 1999 Director's Expanded Cut (117 mins)
- 2010 Director's Definitive Cut (114 mins)

Differences between the Theatrical Cut and the Expanded Cut can be found at Movie-Censorship.
Differences between the Theatrical Cut and the Definitive Cut can be found at Movie-Censorship.

Taken from an interview between Amazon.com and the director Michael Mann on the Director's Cut (note by definition spoilers are included) -

" Amazon.com: What are some of the scenes that you most wanted to restore or re-edit?
Mann: For example, Chingachgook's [Russell Means] soliloquy at the end of the film [in which he eulogizes the end of a way of life for his people and the frontier] was removed, and that was a mistake. I wanted that back. This may be very personal and subjective to the filmmaker, but his line, "But once we were here," to me really is the heart of the movie. I also wanted to enhance the character of [British Major Duncan] Hayward [played by Steven Waddington], so that he became truly three-dimensional. Then his rejection by Cora and his sacrifice at the end mean more. I wanted to make him competent. That's why I restored [the sequence of] the infantry charge that he leads, which is a diversion when Hawkeye launches the courier.

Amazon.com: What other scenes do you think benefit from this director's cut?
Mann: I prefer this cut of the massive assault on the fort. It's more stately. The theatrical cut intercuts both Hawkeye's group trying to get to the fort and the assault by the French. This doesn't. It's longer and larger.

Amazon.com: Why did you remove [popular Irish group] Clannad from the soundtrack?
Mann: I think the music was taking some of the emotional power away [from the story] because it was a little too sentimental.

Amazon.com: What is the end result of all these changes?
Mann: I took out four or five minutes and added eight minutes. The film's metric length won't indicate the effect. The reason to do these changes is to make the story much more profound. Some of these things have an exponential effect out of proportion to their length."

CUTS:

• R1 Director's Expanded Version America- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - No cuts - Director's Expanded Cut.
• R1 Director's Expanded Version - Re-release America- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - No cuts, Directors Expanded Version (116:41 NTSC).
• R2 France- Warner Home Video - No cuts, Theatrical Cut (107:22 PAL).
• R2 Germany- Warner Home Video - No cuts, Theatrical Cut (107:22 PAL).
• R2 Limited Edition Germany- NSM Records - No cuts, Theatrical Cut (107:22 PAL).
• R2 Scandinavia- Warner Home Video - No cuts, Theatrical Cut (107:22 PAL).
• R2 Spain- Warner Home Video - No cuts, Theatrical Cut (107:22 PAL).
• R2 United Kingdom- Warner Home Video - No cuts, Theatrical Cut (107:22 PAL).
• R4 Australia- Warner Home Video - No cuts, Theatrical Cut (107:22 PAL).
• R4 Brazil- Warner Home Video - No cuts, Theatrical Cut.

Do you own a release not listed? Then please visit our forums and let us know!

Comparison added by Adrian_Busby on 23/11/01
Comparison last updated by James-Masaki_Ryan on 09/01/21

UPDATE LOG:

30/03/16: Added Germany, Scandinavia, updated title, moved director interview to winner notes box, notes on 3 versions, ASINs.
25/12/20: Added Austria.
09/01/21: Added Spain.