A few scenes and lines of dialouge were either altered or missing from the finished film. An early scene of Joe and a nurse in their car on the beach has them two talking about the world being a pretty place and joe says it's not. Another scene of Joe and Yazi talking. Joe asks "seen any combat?" Yazi answers "No, but i am looking forward to getting into some" There are a few other small lines of dialouge that was left out. These were most likely cut because of pacing.
For the German retail market MGM released a cut version which misses ca. 12 minutes of footage. This version is rated "Not under 16". Uncut version is also available but may not be sold online due to its higher rating.
An extended directors cut is available on dvd and features about 22 minutes of new footage. These include several extended battle scenes as well as a few fully deleted scenes including an early scene of Joe recieving a medal for his work at the start of the film. There are also several new scenes near the start as well including a scene of Joe and Rita on the beach. This scene was included in the trailer for the film. Also a scene of all the marines taking pictures before shipping off to war. Also an extended scene of Yazee introducing himself to Joe and joe asks if he has seen any combat to which yazee replies "No, but i'm looking forward to getting into some." There were also several other smaller additions and alternate angles and shots used.