 The Director 's Cut was described by Noyce as " my own personal take on the material , free from the politics and restrictions of producers , studio or censorship ratings . " Four minutes of film are added , leading to a running time of 104 minutes . More flashbacks are added , and the violence is amped up – for example Mike being drowned rather than shot to death . The ending is also different : in the bunker scene , Winter shoots the President instead of only knocking him unconscious , and a media report during the final scene reports that the new US President had been orphaned on a family visit to Russia , implying he is also a sleeper agent . Noyce has described this ending as " an ending yet just a beginning – and it 's an ending that turns the whole story on its head " . 
