The well made B-Science-Fiction movie "Impostor" has been cut heavily in order to get a PG-13 rating for the American cinema release. In this process almost every violent scene has been removed. Luckily the US DVD release contained the uncut R-Rated version that also was extended in some scenes. Most of the time these extensions aren't significant: Quite often it's only a second or even less. Someone can be seen an instant longer or is waking longer to get across the street. To provide a better overview all those small additions are mentioned in small print and thus can be ignored more easily. Even the more important new story sequences seldomly are longer than 15 seconds. Those scenes are somewhat interesting but still do not really change the movie and should only be seen as a little extra.

Nevertheless this R-Rated Director's Cut is by far the better movie, not only because of the violence but also because it is overall better cut.

- 43 censorship cuts
- 53 extended scenes
- 6 new scenes
- Scenes which are included in both versions but put in a different order are not mentioned.

It is hard to draw conclusions about the total cut length because of the alternative footage that can be seen quite often. Therefore we will only compare the total running times.

PG-13: 91:55 Min
R-Rated Director's Cut: 98:10 Min. (both PAL)

Comparison between the cut PG-13 version taken from the German pay tv network Premiere and the uncut R-Rated (Director's Cut) version taken from the UK DVD by Prism Leisure.

0.00.53
The PG-13 version features a short text telling us that Impostor is based on a short story by the famous sci-fi author Philip K. Dick and that it was written in the year 1953.

8,6 sec.

0.01.32
New scene:
During the prologue the DC shows the rockets shot by the space ships hit the earth. This has been done by using footge from "Armageddon" as well as original effects.
3,72 sec.

0.01.37
Alternative shot:
Here, different stock footage (from either Starship Troopers of Armageddon) has been used. The DC shows a big crater in Paris can be seen, the PG-13 shows a bombed city instead.
No time difference

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

0.01.47
New scene:
During the prologue a moniter shows another stock footage scene from starship Troopers in which soldiers board transport ships.
0,72 sec.

0.01.47
Alternative effects:
The small space fight looks a bit different in the DC, e.g. a reflection on one of the space ships is misssing, an explosion has been improved and the attacks look different.
No difference in time

0.01.51
Alternative effects:
The space ship approaching the earth looks and flies differently.
No (significant) difference in time

0.02.15
Extended scene:
When it is mentioned that the Centauri are genetically superior to the human the fight next to the big space ship is longer.
1,44 sec.

0.05.21
Extended scene:
When the leader is giving a speech on TV about the destroyed colony two shots have been added to the broadcast: an explosion and something unidentifiable.
1,24 sec.

0.06.23
Extended scene:
When Spencer's neighbor is looking thorugh his telescope and watches the shield he does so a bit longer and says "Come to me, Baby. Come to me."
0,6 sec.

0.08.36
Extended scene:
Spencer is longer walking with his friend to the lab. When Spencer says that he wasn't nervous his friend call him a liar in the DC.
1,68 sec.

0.08.49
New scene:
Some people are walking down stairs.
1,64 sec.

0.09.06
New scene:
When Spencer wants to enter the weapon factory the computer asks him for a voice identification. After being angry at first he complies and the door opens.
19,76 sec.

0.09.38
Extended scene:
Maya is walking through the hospital with the other doctor longer. After a brief chat they have to sop, Maya is signing something and the other guy is giving some order.
6,88 sec.

0.09.43
New scene:
Spencer asks his friend if he wasever asked for a voice identification and says that this was his first time. They both assume that this was connected with the visit from the chancellor and the heightened security.
10,2 sec.

0.11.05
Extended scene:
When Spencer and his friend take a look at the nuclear bomb design and Spencer talks about Hiroshima his friend replies ironically: "Let's begin the party." The PG-13 shows both of them standing in front of the bomb longer.
3,48 sec.

0.12.17
Censorship:
Spencer falls down to the ground longer after he was tased by Hathaway.
0,84 sec.

0.12.19
Censorship:
Spencer lies 6 frames longer shaking on the ground.
0,24 sec.

0.12.27
Censorship:
Spencer's desperate friend longer tries to break free from the soldiers holding him.
0,32 sec.

0.12.29
Censorship:
After Hathaway ordered his men to take Spencer's friend away the DC shows Hathaway slightly longer first, then Spencer still shaking on the ground and then his friend again.
1,76 sec.

0.12.34
Censorship:
The flashback when Spencer is being brought away on a stretcher is different in both versions. Because of the fast way of cutting the differences are hard to describe. However, the DC's version is more intense and longer.
2,92 sec.

0.14.09
Censorship:
When Hathaway summarizes Spencer's life we see alternative photos at the point when the death of his father is mentioned:
The PG-13 shows the finger prints a a photograph of his father again, the R-Rated features a blood-smeared pulp instead.
No difference in time

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

0.14.15
Censorship:
When Hathaway talks about Spencer's father having been beaten to death by the Centauri some pictures of the dead father that is bount to a chair.
The Theatrical Version instead features some shot's of Spencer as a kid that are being interrupted by very short and fast cuts to the father. This version runs 10 frames (0,4 sec) longer.

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

0.14.55
Censorship:
Hathaway fetches a knife from the tray with the instruments of torture. Spencer asks him what he wants.
6,16 sec.

0.14.57
Censorship:
The people watching the interrogation can be seen. Hathaway threatens Spencer with the knife. Suddenly he cuts Spencer's arm. When Spencer makes a grimace he shouts at him: „Ouch?! Ouch?!“.
18,04 sec.

0.17.24
Censorship:
When Hathaway shows Spencer the holograph record in which the chest of a Centauri cyborg is being cut open the PG-13 lacks the shot when the machine reaches the chest. - Blood is splattering and the cyborg screams.
1,56 sec.

0.17.28
Censorship:
The same scene, this time Spencer can be seen in the foreground. Pieces are flying around. The shot of Hathaway averting his gaze has been inserted later.
2,12 sec.

0.17.31
Censorship:
Another shot of the dead cyborg with an open chest is missing.
1,56 sec.

0.17.39
Censorship:
When the holograph is being turned off the dead cyborg can be seen again. This shot is a bit longer as well.
0,64 sec.

0.18.58
Censorship:
When Spencer asks his friend Nelson to help him he ends with „This Monster is out of his fucking mind!“
3 sec.

0.21.42
Censorship:
Two shots of the guard used as a shield by Spencer being shot by Hathaway are missing.
0,88 sec.

0.22.11
Extended scene:
When Spencer is fleeing he walks through the dark corridors longer.
5,68 sec.

0.23.05
Censorship:
The first three shots of the guards in the elevator being shot are missing.
0,84 sec.

0.23.06
Censorship:
The soldiers in the elevator are being hit more often. The PG-13 shows an alternative shot of Spencer shooting instead. The DC is 1,24 sec. longer - pictures of that have been left out deliberately.

0.23.52
Censorship:
After Spencer told his friend that he wouldn't die there's another shot in the DC showing the scene out of the aerial perspective. The following shot of Spencer bowing over his dead friend is also not included in the PG-13 version.
3,12 sec.

0.23.59
Censorship:
Very hard to notice: When the soldiers open the elevator door and Hathaway points his flashlight on Spencer's dead friend different footage has been used. The R-Rated shows the bloody torso and the face, the PG-13 doesn't show more than his legs (without blood).
No difference in time

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

0.24.05
Extended scene:
Spencer is walking a bit longer through the dark tunnel.
0,52 sec.

0.25.19
Extended scene:
The talk between Spencer and his friend has been extended: He asks her if she would see it, too. Then a shot of the viewphone has been added.
4,12 sec.

0.26.03
Censorship:
When Spencer breaks down in the tunnel a short scene of his tortured father has been inserted in the flashback (3 frames). The following shot of Spencer is another frame longer.
0,16 sec.

0.26.09
Censorship:
When Spencer sees his friend in the flashback the shot that has been used earlier in the PG-13 (already mentioned) was also used.
0,2 sec.

0.26.18
Censorship:
When Spencer hallucinates soldiers walking towards him in the tunnel he has some flashbacks again. Those have been extended in the DC, too. Only here a scene in which his father is writhing on a chair can be seen.
0,32 sec.

0.26.19
Censorship:
Again more flashbacks. The PG-13 features some alternative shots the main difference again being his father. In the PG-13 he is sitting and sleeping unharmed on the chair. Despite the alternative material the DC is longer again.
1,48 sec.

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

0.26.34
Extended scene:
After the hallucination Spencer touches his neck as if he wanted to check his pulse.
2,2 sec.

0.26.58
Extended scene:
After Spencer left the tunnel he is walking longer through the industrial complex and the climbs a ladder upwards.
9,64 sec.

0.27.46
New scene:
Hathaway is running hastily through a building structure. A soldier follows him and receives a load of yelled orders. He is being told to get as many portable scanners as possible, the "RMR team" is supposed to be woken and readied up and a communication line is to be set up with the census for the case they get a hint. At last Hathaway screams „Turn off these fucking alarms!“. Afterwards another soldier appears who tells him that the secretary of defense wanted to see him.
17,46 sec.

0.28.03
Extended scene:
After the talk with the secretary Spencer can be seen again still walking through the desolate suburb. This scene was used earlier in the DC (before the chat with the secretary) is a bit longer there.
1,76 sec.

0.28.16
Extended scene:
After the scene with the secretary and Hathaway Spencer is walking again through the suburb but now we can hear the secretary talking as a voiceover. This means that we see more footage from the scene but at the same time hear something that would have been interesting in the PG version for the scene before. He says:
„You would think the ESA... the premier special so force of our military machine would be able to contain it in its own containment facility".
The new material is 2,28 sec. longer.

0.28.16
Extended scene:
The talk between Hathaway and the senator is a bit longer before the senator asks about the reach of the bomb. The audio of the scene could be heard in the last scene in the PG-13 (compare the last cut). Then Spencer is walking through some ruins in which he sees an unkempt woman with a dirty face.
7,88 sec.

0.28.21
Spencer is walking longer through the ruins when the voiceover can be heard (PG13).
1,16 sec. in the DC

0.28.30
Extended scene:
Dito, but this time he walks longer in the DC.
1,08 sec.

0.29.04
Extended scene:
Again. He sees some refugees.
2,52 sec.

0.29.54
Extended scene:
After Spencer has been located by the census bureau we see him walking around longer before he climbs up a ladder.
4,16 sec.

0.30.11
Extended scene:
Spencer can be seen a tiny bit longer after the child told him that he shouldn't be there.
0,92 sec.

0.30.49
Extended scene:
Spencer is walking longer through the old building.
0,44 sec.

0.30.55
New scene:
When Spencer finds the faucet someone is watching him through a hole in the wall (first-person view). This scene doesn't have any importance for the story.
1,96 sec.

0.31.57
Extended scene:
When the soldiers arrive a shot of the surroundings is missing before a soldier is running towards a pedestrian with a baton.
1,12 sec.

0.32.04
Extended scene:
aerial shot of the soldiers pushing the people back.
1,4 sec.

0.32.30
Extended scene:
After Spencer looked out of the window the outside view (showing not much more than two spotlights) is missing.
1,36 sec.

0.32.50
Extended scene:
Soldiers are walking through the screen, some flats are being ransacked.
7,12 sec.

0.33.33
Extended / alternative scene:
Here the DC is cut so differently that a precise comparison would be an impossible thing to do. Basically the scene in which Spencer is hiding from the soldiers and is being found by the "Zoners" is completely different in the two versions.

PG-13 version:
The policemen discover Spencer hiding in the room. When he notices this he starts to run up some stairs. The policemen see this by using a scanner and give the order to follow him. A few stories further upwards Spencer is standing in fron of an empty elevator shaft. He enters another room and is looking out of the window in the yard where he sees some policemen looking for him. The policemen in the yard then see a suspicious person on their scanner and think it's SPencer. The soldiers that followed him upwards receive new instructions where to look for him. Suddenly the door of the room in which Spencer is hiding is being pushed open and some men overwhelm Spencer and put a black bag over his head. But those men weren't the soldiers because they can be seen pushing open the door of another room directly after that. They only find a small girl the scanner mistook for Spencer. When Hathaway receives the message that they didn't find Spencer he angrily orders the men to continue with the next building.

Director’s Cut:
The DC offers partially the same footage but there are some major differences that can best be perceived in a complete overview:

The differences start when Spencer - after standing in front of the elevator shaft - doesn't enter another room but a big room (the attic). Spencer sees that there is no way out of there. The policemen are told that Spencer is in the attic and start going up. When they arrive no one can be seen. Then the policemen in the yard find the trace of a person that was in the attic and tell the policemen up there where they have to go.The policemen open the door to a small chamber where they find the girl. When they leave the building (after receiving the order from Hathaway) the camera pans into the elevator shaft and one can see that Spencer has been hiding there. When Spencer thinks that it's safe he leaves the shaft and now enters the room in which he went earlier in the PG13 version. The rest of the scene develops in the same way as in the PG13.

If you measure the two versions by time starting from the man with the scanner saying "I’ve got another one" until the second shot of the "Zoners" bringing away Pencer, these are the results:
Director’s Cut: 2 min. 52,12 sec. (172,12 sec.)
PG-13: 1. min. 45,88 sec. (105,88 sec.)
The DC is 1 min. 6,24 sec. longer (66,24 sec.).

Here are some pictures taken from the DC showing mainly footage that can't be seen in the PG13 release:

Spencer enters the attic...

...but can't be found there because...

...he is hiding in the elevator shaft.

0.39.20
Extended scene:
The outside shot of the veteran hospital is a bit longer.
1,16 sec.

0.39.46
Extended scene:
Maya can be seen longer when she is talking to Hathaway.
1,68 sec.

0.42.12
Extended scene:
Spencer is visible a bit longer when the physician tells him to take his jacket off.
0,52 sec.

0.42.55
Censorship:
The R-Rated shows the physician inducing a medical instrument in Spencer'S back to remove his sim code. The PG-13 shows her putting aside a tablet instead.
No difference in time

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

0.43.13
Censorship:
Another shot of the physician fiddling around in Spencer's back and getting the sim code out.
1,52 sec.

0.43.23
Censorship:
Spencer's back wound can be seen longer before it's closed by the laser.
1,56 sec.

0.43.27
New scene:
Spencer is walking away from the station to the room in which the sick are lying. The PG13 instantly shows the sickbeds.
4,84 sec.

0.47.40
Censorship:
During the fight in the tunnel Spencer is being choked from behind longer. The first frames of the following shot in which the black guy picks up a club are missing as well.
2,08 sec.

0.48.05
Censorship:
The black guy choking Spencer is being hit more often.
1,2 sec.
The PG13 shows another shot of the firing gun instead.

0.49.57
Extended scenee:
Cale (Mekhi Phifer) opens the doors he just pried open + a shot of Spencer sitting in a corner and waiting until he has finished.
2,04 sec.

0.50.01
Extended scene:
Spencer and Cale walking longer through the room behind the now open door.
2,4 sec.

0.51.25
Extended scene:
Cale and Spencer are walking longer through the plaza.
1 sec.

0.51.48
Extended scene:
After Spencer believes to have seen Hathaway in a corner he can be seen longer.
1,68 sec.

0.51.49
Extended scene:
Spencer is walking through the plaza and remembers how Hathaway attacekd him with the stun gun.
12,56 sec.

0.51.50
Extended scene:
After he said that Hathaway could see him Spencer walks through the plaza longer. Then we can see a hallucination in which he sees Hathaway rolling by in a wheelchair.
8,6 sec.

0.52.00
Extended scene:
Spencer is walking around a corner in another shot.
0,68 sec.

0.52.07
Censorship:
When Spencer has some flashbacks while standing on the stairs the shots of his fahter being tied on a chair (with blood) are missing again.
0,2 sec.

0.52.08
Censorship:
The memory of the cut Hathaway did to him is missing as well as another one of Hathaway screaming at him in slow motion.
2,32 sec.

0.52.08
Censorship:
Again flashbacks of Spencer's father (only three frames).
0,12 sec.

0.52.09
Extended scene:
Another memory of Hathaway and a shot of Spencer.
1 sec.

0.52.22
Extended scene:
Cale tries to wake Spencer up in another shot (right before Spencer's face can be seen in a close-up).
1 sec.

0.53.28
Extended scene:
Cale is longer in the picture and hangs his head after Spencer told him that he killed his friend.
2,2 sec.

0.56.03
Extended scene:
Spencer is watching Hathaway and his men longer.
2,32 sec.

0.56.11
Extended scene:
Spencer continues to watch the soldiers.
1,96 sec.

0.56.17
Extended scene:
Spencer can be seen longer after the soldiers give their post at the entrance of the hospital up. The DC also shows another shot of Spencer walking away slowly.
5,28 sec.

0.56.34
Extended scene:
When Spencer and Cale watch the soldiers guarding the hospital entrance Cale asks Spencer if he needs that "proof" for himself or for the others. Then the two are jumping down a wall and land on a stairs which they then walk down.
15,56 sec.

0.57.59
Extended scene:
Spencer crawls through the lower regions of the hospital in two other shots.
4,48 sec.

0.58.32
Extended scene:
When the dead are being unloaded on top of the hospital the camera pans left to a grating. After a short time it is being raised and Spencer cautiosly looks through the gap.
15,08 sec.

1.01.19
Extended scene:
When SPencer and Cale reach the pharmacy station and Spencer says that he would call the evening "good" now both can be seen longer. They then hear something and look sideways. Afterwards Cale tends to the drugs again.
6,24 sec.

1.01.30
Extended scene:
After Cale started to bag the drugs Spencer starts to examine the room. He opens another compartment with drugs. With a syringe he injects himself something (probably the anti-hallucinogen). Some shots of Cale bagging the drugs.
The PG-13 only shows another shot of the stressed Spencer touching his forehead. (1,48 sec.)
14,92 sec.

1.02.38
Extended scene:
Sepncer can be seen longer and pressed the door button after Cale gives him the weapon while telling him not to shoot himself.
3,48 sec.

1.05.35
Extended scene:
During the preparations of the physician another shot of him and Spencer is missing.
0,96 sec.

1.06.48
Extended scene:
Spencer climbs into the body scanner.
4,32 sec.

1.06.57
Extended scene:
Spencer is lying on the sretcher and is ready to be scanned. He puts the gun away, the light is turned off.
4,16 sec.

1.07.58
Extended scene:
The scan takes longer (before the nurse tells Cale to call the security).
7 sec.

1.08.04
Extended scene:
Afterwards Cale can be seen longer.
0,72 sec.

1.09.00
Censorship:
Another shot of the security guard stabbing Cale (which can't be seen).
1,52 sec.

1.09.17
Difference in audio:
After Spencer gace Cale some bandages for his wound he tells him to go and that he would make it. The PG13 shows the same scene without these words being spoken.
No difference in time

1.10.33
Censorship:
When the black soldier starts shooting at Spencer and hits the physicians the first shot of one of the men being hit is missing.
0,72 sec.

1.10.33
Censorship:
Again some missing frames when the physicians are being hit. Some entry wounds have been retouched on the chest of the physician in the left half of the screen.
0,52 sec.

1.10.34
Censorship:
Ditto.
0,2 sec.

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

1.10.41
Censorship:
Again some blood has been removed from on the physician's scrubs.
No difference in time

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

1.10.42
Censorship:
Some frames of the physician being treated are missing.
0,16 sec.

1.10.44
Censorship:
Some frames showing the second and dead physician have been left out.
0,32 sec.

1.19.32
Extended scene:
After Spencer said that they had to find the corpse he starts searching the Centauri ship.
5,56 sec.

1.20.50
Censorship:
In the Pg-13 Maya's throat (cut open) has been retouched.
No difference in time

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

1.21.26
Zensurschnitt:
Eine weitere Einstellung von Maya mit durchschnittener Kehle.

1.21.38
Censorship:
Centauri-Maya is being shot longer. In another shot two bloody entry hits in the back are missing.
1,36 sec.

1.23.38
Censorship:
Spencer's throat wound has been treated the same way as Maya's (don't confuse the wound at the chin with the throat).
No time difference

R-Rated DC:	PG-13:

1.23.50
Censorship:
The shot of the dead Spencer in the centauri ship is longer before one of the soldiers is fetching a knife out of the locker.
1,72 sec.