Rambo III Alternate Opening

Here is a cut/raw scene from Rambo III (1988). It is a scene where the CIA gets cut up and mowed down by a Russian Hind tank chopper.  For some reason I had not seen this (or had forgotten about it) until it was packed in with the recent release of the film in 4K UHD.

This scene first showed up in the Ultimate Edition DVD in 2008.

The scene was switched out for the Rambo stick fight, which is better.  But I do wonder if this scene was cut merely because it was ‘redundant’.  Remember, the Cold War got significantly cooler in 1988, so did the Soviet war in Afghanistan.  Here we have the Russian military openly killing American agents.

Is it possible it was a political cut?

I like the scene, the build up to the sound of the Hind approaching is a good touch.