HOWEVER, I did find this interesting little tidbit at imdb:
Trivia: The movie initially was rated "R", but was re rated "PG-13" after many action scenes were cut and the violence was trimmed down considerably.
AND
John Woo's final cut of the film clocked in at 3 1/2 hours. The studio balked at this length and told him that the final length could not exceed 120 min. This could explain why there are so many plot holes and continuity errors in the theatrical cut.