After being disappointed by the studio taking over this film, director Mark L. Lester started to finance and sell his movies himself to keep control over them.
Mark L. Lester's final cut came in at 90 minutes, but after seeing the test-screenings results, "Warner Bros" no longer supported the film and cut it down to 79 minutes.
The infamous homoerotic line from Brandon Lee's character was originally "You have the biggest dick I've ever seen on a white man" and was shortened by Warner Bros (during editing) to "You have the biggest dick I've ever seen on a man".
All of the swords used in the film were replicas, with the exception of the one used by Dolph Lundgren's character when he slices through bundles of bamboo: this was an authentic samurai sword.
Editor Michael Eliot was brought in by Warner Bros. for substantial re-editing to make the film faster after WB were unhappy with an early cut. He had performed the same job on Warner's other 1991 action film, Out for Justice (1991). Scenes cut included a different introduction to Kenner, and his former partner Yosuto, more of the Nelson character, played by Ernie Lively, more dramatic scenes between Lundgren and Lee and a scene after the opening gunfight at the underground boxing match where Kenner is chewed out by his superiors for all the mayhem he has caused.