After his made-for-TV drama Jericho Mile, Thief marked Michael Mann's debut as a screen director in 1981. Films like Manhunter and Heat are considered groundbreaking today - not to mention his leading development of the cult series Miami Vice, whose film version he took over himself in 2006.

Released in 2016 in the form of a "5-Disc Ultimate Edition" by German label OFDb Filmworks, the Director's Cut of Thief includes an additional scene, which had already been added to the Special Director's Edition from 1995 documented here. All other changes to this previous release, which were more cosmetic in nature anyway, were discarded in favour of the editing familiar from the theatrical version.

The Director's Cut, however, differs from the theatrical version in colour with a rather striking blue cast, as this image comparison illustrates.

Theatrical Version	Director's Cut

[0:00:00 / 0:00:00]
The DC starts with a longer ("Flying In") MGM logo than the theatrical version.
8 Sec

[0:10:07 / 0:10:15]
While you see Frank driving away in the theatrical version for a few seconds longer, the DC fades into a scene that is not included in the theatrical version.

Theatrical Version:

DC:

Frank walks along the harbour with a paper cup and a sandwich bag and meets a hobby fisherman called Cap. They say hello to each other. Cap complains about the cold. Frank offers the man a cup of coffee, which he accepts. They talk about the beautiful sky.

Total 82 Sec = 1 Min 22 Sec