Director's Cut?

Being an admirer of John Milius and his work im sad to say i couldnt whole-heartly enjoy this film. Even though Nick Nolte is excellent and the way he channels Miliuses dialog is simply riveting to watch. And the music by Poledouris! But it really does feel like an hour or so was cut entirely from the picture, many important plot details and character development during especially the first hour is rushed Way too much. This is regretful because the film presents so much lost potential of being a true classic. What grinds me the most is the scene where Nigel is stabbed and wanders to the woods, things looking rather bleak and suddenly BAM, he wakes up at a hospital bed ?! What a horrible soap opera scene! Im just having a touhg time believing that Milius actually intended the scene to go like that..? Its a fact that the studio pretty much hacked the film to pieces, is there any hope for a more perfected version?