Alternate Ending

So watching the film I felt that the ending seemed slapped on. It turned out that I was right and that there was a whole other ending for the film that didn't test well with audiences because Elizabeth Shue's character dies. While I agree that her death would have felt out of place there was also a really big action set piece that was supposed to occur after her death that sounded pretty cool. I just want to know why they had to cut out the huge action packed finale along with Shue's death? Couldn't she have lived and still had the big finale take place? It certainly sounded like it costed a lot of money and that it would have been much more exciting than the ending they used instead. Here is a summary of the alternate ending. I'd like to see the film with the finale restored personally. Like I said, I agree with having her live at the end but not about cutting out that finale action.

In the original version of the film — as in the original Jonathan Hensleigh script — Dr. Russell, having escaped Russia via the American embassy, collapses while giving a lecture and dies in the Saint's arms. Watching the videotape back, he sees Tretiak Jr. stabbing her in the leg with the tip of his cane. The final half-hour has the Saint returning to Moscow to destroy the villains' plans and avenge her death. With Dr. Botvin's help, he switches the formulas around and humiliates Tretiak during his show trial of the Russian president. The Tretiaks shoot their way out of the crowd and escape back to their mansion, with the Saint and the Russian army in pursuit. Tretiak shoots the treacherous Dr. Botvin. The Saint arrives and finds the bodies of Botvin and Tretiak, killed by his own son. The Saint battles Dr. Russell's killer on the stairwell as Russian tanks pound the mansion walls, exposing and setting fire to the vast stockpile of heating oil in the basement. With the stairwell disintegrating around them, the fight spills out on to the chandelier, suspended above the blazing oil. The Saint teases Treatiak Jr. with the disc containing the formula for cold fusion. As he reaches out for it, the Saint cuts the rope and Tretiak Jr. plummets to a fiery death. Returning to Dr. Russell's home, the Saint finds a letter from her, a tear fills his eye and he vows from now on to use his skills only for good.