Alternate versions

There are three official versions of the film - the Theatrical Cut (1981), the Director's Special Edition (1995), and the Director's Cut (2014). The Director's Special Edition was released on LaserDisc in 1995, and subsequently on DVD in 1998. This was the only version of the film available until 2014, when Criterion released the newly edited Director's Cut on DVD and Blu-ray. The following year Arrow Video released a two-disc Blu-ray set featuring both the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut. There is only one difference between the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut - right after the opening heist, there is a new scene where Frank (James Caan) meets his friend Cap (Willie Dixon) on the pier and the two admire the stillness of the water (1:22). The rest of the Director's Cut is identical to the Theatrical Cut. The Director's Special Edition also features the scene with Cap, but there are also some other minor changes, which were not been carried over to the Director's Cut. For the Special Director's Edition,

• After the second heist, the scene of Frank lighting up a cigarette and nodding to himself has been shortened (-00:02).
• The cut from Frank nodding to the shot of the beach is no longer in sync with the music, instead it cuts to the beach before the music cue.
• A slow motion shot of Jessie (Tuesday Weld) holding the baby on the beach is absent (-00:07).
• The initial shot of the waves in the above scene has been slowed down (00:09).
• The shot of Frank taking a box from a shelf before telling Jessie to leave has been shortened (-00:03).
• During the scene where Frank is telling Jessie to leave, her line "We just disassemble it and put it back in a box like an erector set you just send back to a store?" has been changed to "We just disassemble it and put it back in a box?"
• The last shot of Frank's collage has been shortened (-00:02).
• The speed of some of the shots during the shootout has been altered; the shot of Attaglia (Tom Signorelli) falling to the ground and the shot of Frank falling after Carl (Dennis Farina) shoots him have been sped up (-00:04), whilst the shot of Carl falling back into the bushes has been slowed down and edited slightly differently (00:02)

Despite being released uncut theatrically in Germany with a "not under 16" rating, in order to retain that rating for VHS release, the German VHS version by Warner Home Video was cut by approximately 35 secs in a couple of scenes to reduce violence. The "not under 18" rated DVD and Blu-ray releases are completely uncensored like the initial German theatrical release.

In all earlier versions (possibly due to the risk of libel) when Leo taunts frank whilst held captive with the line "...You're family will be eating WIMPY burgers" was dubbed to "...You're family will be eating hamburgers". In the 2014 CRITERION/ARROW released director's cut; the original WIMPY reference is reinstated.