FAQ

O-Dog knew that the store owners had at least one security camera in the store and he wanted to take the tape so that the police couldn't identify him or Caine when they arrived at the scene and started their investigation.

O-Dog probably watches the tape repeatedly because he's fascinated with the power he felt from shooting the store owners and because he's also likely, since he plainly shows no remorse, numbed to the violence, believing it's no different than anything he's seen on the streets of his neighborhood or on TV or movies.

For dramatic effect. It conveys a greater sense of tension, violence and even confusion as to the mood during the riots.

Likely because they'd been robbed before, perhaps by other black youth like O-Dog and Caine. The Koreans assumed that O-Dog and Caine were troublemakers who might try to steal the beer they'd come in for so the woman was following them around to make sure they didn't. Unfortunately, it didn't work out so well for them.

The R-rated version is not uncut. To avoid an NC-17 rating this version had to be cut in certain scenes. Until now the uncut version has only been released on Laserdisc by Criterion. There is no uncut-DVD or uncut-VHS available; Neither in the USA nor in other countries.

However, an unrated Director's Cut has been released on DVD/Blu-Ray that features not only the more violent shootouts, but also some minor plot extensions.

In Great Britain most of the old BBFC-18 releases were cut due to the fear of imitation: Caine and O-Dog are breaking into a car. The new Blu-Ray release that features the unrated Director's Cut as well is completely uncut.