Mel Gibson was indeed once a force of nature. But a lot has happened and a lot of time has passed since Braveheart or Lethal Weapon - Gibson (mainly through his own fault) now usually has to settle for scripts from the second or even third shelf. Even there, a relatively decent paycheck awaits for relatively little work. Steven Seagal or, frighteningly, Bruce Willis have not been too shy to do this for a few years now, so he's in good company.

And so we end up with Force of Nature, a thriller in a confined space that comes across as rainy as the omnipresent weather situation. Gibson has a supporting role here, which he literally sits out for a while before taking up arms. The lead role is played by the unengaging Emile Hirsch (Killer Joe) as a washed-up cop who has to hold his own against David Zayas (Dexter) as a ruthless gangster on the hunt for million-dollar paintings of an old man. This works out in a rather less gripping way. On the other hand, it is bizarre that another supporting character apparently keeps a predatory cat in his apartment, which also makes its obligatory final appearance. If the others in front of and behind the camera had as much bite as the CGI animal, they might have been able to get a bit more out of Force of Nature.

In any case, the German distributor Splendid got the best out of it, because whether consciously or unconsciously they bought an extended version of the action film. It runs much longer than the US version and is clearly preferable in comparison. Obviously, they wanted to save time for the US version and did so rather clumsily at times, as some story and character details fell by the wayside there. The extended version even has more violence at one point.

Comparison between the US DVD (by Lionsgate) and the uncut German FSK 16 Blu-ray (by Splendid Film).

9 relevant differences, consisting of

6 extended scenes / sequences
2 scenes with alternative material
1 additional scene

The extended version runs 478.96 sec. or about 7 minutes 59 seconds longer than the US version.

Alternative Material.
0:00:45: In the Extended Cut (called EC from here on), there is a longer exclusive sequence. Cardillo and his girlfriend are about to have sex in the car when she is bothered by the watching dog. A humorous dialogue develops between the two, in which Cardillo asks for understanding for the pug. They ultimately want to continue their lovemaking, but then a call comes in from dispatch, which Cardillo answers against his girlfriend's will and reports for duty. She then says that she doesn't want to have sex in the car anymore when they are married and he jokingly says that they could do it on the train or the bus. The bus in particular turns her off, whereupon Cardillo says that of course he means some kind of private bus, like the one she would have used at her Bachelorette party. It's all pretty playful and not a real argument. Then arriving at the location, Cardillo gets out and explores the hallway with his gun drawn. He asks a resident who upened the door if he would own a gun and why there was no light. The resident replies that the junkies always destroy the light bulbs so they can escape undetected. Cardillo continues to feel his way forward and when something moves at a door at the end of the hallway, he shoots twice. A short scream from a female voice is audible and when Cardillo checks, he makes a shocked face. Then the opening credits begin.

In the US version, you see a sequence that actually appears later in the film. Ray shoots a gangster who had been threatening Jess. Then they walk on together and discover Cardillo being beaten up by another gangster in the pouring rain. Ray wants to shoot from above, but has to change positions again because he doesn't have a clear line of fire. When he then finds it and points the gun, the opening credits appear here as well.
The EC runs 192.28 sec longer.

Extended sequence.
0:06:38: The whole sequence at the beginning, when John and his crew ambush and rob the rich woman, is much longer at various points in the EC. It all looks a lot like time tightening, but also comes at the expense of detail in story and character drawing.

John leisurely makes his way to the table. As John and his crew wait in the cafe, one of the men playfully provokes his fellow gangster Babie. As the car pulls up with the woman, John is giving his men instructions on how to proceed (he wants to take Babie through the back entrance and follow her). Inside the building, she is followed by Babie for a longer time and when John has waited for her and led her into a side room (which can also be seen in the US), they are suddenly standing with her in a deserted room. Babie points a gun at her and John wants her expensive ring. But she fearfully says that she sold it earlier today. John digs an envelope out of her purse and finds money inside. He announces a change of plans and then you see the bank from the outside.

At the bank, John tells her to keep a friendly grin on her face and she plays along. When the bank clerk offers his services, she says that she wants to go to her safe deposit box and her nephews will accompany her to it. In the separate room, the bank employee says goodbye. In the opened cash box, John notices a valuable object and asks excitedly where she got it. The woman says, frightened, that she got it from an older man she doesn't even know the name of, but John isn't buying it. He wants to know if she was at the man's house for the drop-off and what the address is (in the US version, this is cut together so incoherently that you don't even know what John wants from the woman and why).

After John shoots the woman and Babie, only the EC shows John shooting a security guard in cold blood just before leaving the bank. In the car he then puts the painting back in the tube still grinning and the tracking shot along the coast is also extended.
149.64 sec.

0:15:36: In the argument over the meat, the EC is longer, but only because of more shots of Griffin receiving the meat and putting it on his cart.
9.04 sec.

Extended Sequence.
0:18:02: Jess asks Cardillo what they should do then (if they don't save people) and Cardillo suggests that they sit in the police car and drive around a bit and that's it. (Maybe they removed that because the same conclusion is drawn again in the further course of the conversation and they wanted to save time). Also missing is how Jess asks him in the meantime why he is like that.
14.04 Sec.

0:19:33: Cardillo and Jess go longer into the room.
4 Sec..

Extended scene.
0:23:14: The janitor Luigo is adding about Ray that he's nuts and you have to put a gun to his head to get him out of the house. He wryly asks if Cardillo would like to try that and he replies that he will be happy to. Luigo then goes on to say that he wants to finish barricading the building and then he'll make his way to safety.
15.6 Sec.

0:32:25: Longer escape in the stairwell.
2.64 sec.

0:33:12: Prolonged pursuit in the stairwell.
3.04 sec..

Extended scene.
0:33:32: John is asking his gangster in the EC if he can get the door open. He answers that it would be hard without the old man, but that he could do it with enough time. Then John looks up. In the US, he gets right to work without any dialog.
11.96 Sec.

0:37:16: Cardillo takes off his police uniform for a slightly longer time.
3.92 sec.

Alternate Material.
0:38:52: In the EC, John asks his gangster how the door is. He says that the bolts are not a problem, it would be difficult because of the electronic lock. In the US, on the other hand, explosives are placed directly on the door.
The US runs 1.4 sec longer.

US Version	Extended Version

Additional scene.
0:41:58: The gangster drills into the door lock, but gets an electric shock and leaves in frustration. John tells him to turn off the power. But that won't do any good, his colleague counters, because the door is programmed to jam even then. They decide to use C4 to help.
23.92 sec.

Extended scene.
0:43:25: John is happy about the successful burglary and explores the old man's apartment with his colleague.
17.48 sec.

0:46:22: When John shoots at Cardillo and Troy, it's ever so slightly longer in the shots, adding up to several seconds of time saved.
11.08 sec.

Extended scene.
1:20:42: The old man says that the paintings would hang everywhere in the apartments of the apartment complex - as fakes. Cardillo, dumbfounded, praises him for this trick.
21.72 Sec.