The original UK cinema and video versions were censored by around 15 seconds, and removed the shots where Matrix (
Arnold Schwarzenegger) slices off the soldier's arm with the machete as well as Bennett's death to remove a shot of the pipe in his chest and the tracking shot of it sticking from his body. The 2001 UK DVD release retained these cuts and also added a further 44 seconds of distributor cuts; this was because the DVD master used for the UK release was a censored German/Scandinavian version. All cuts were fully waived in 2007 by the BBFC (although it was not released until 2015). The heavily edited 2001 UK DVD version, with a total of 56 seconds removed, was also used as the master for the initial Australian DVD release. In this version additional edits include, but are not limited to:
- In the opening scene, after Cooke (Bill Duke) has initially shot the man in the robe, he walks over to the body and shoots him again. These second hits have been removed.
- When Matrix breaks Henriques' (Charles Meshack) neck on the plane, he simply elbows him, and in the next shot, Henrqiues is already dead. The shot of Matrix snapping Henriques neck is gone.
- The shot of the piece of wood sticking through Cooke's stomach is absent.
- All close ups of the pole in Bennett's (Vernon Wells) stomach are gone.
