The film’s distributors, United International Pictures Malaysia said it “has to oblige local legal requirements and guidelines for the movie to be released” in response to a posting by a movie-goer who attended a preview on Tuesday.
The film, a remake of the 1959 classic, is about a Jewish prince falsely accused of treason and made a galley slave. He later becomes a charioteer and on a visit to Jerusalem witnesses Jesus carrying the cross to Calvary and attempts to give him water.
Facebook user Jerry Terry Derulo said the film lacked certain scenes showing Jesus Christ which were pivotal to the plot, Malay Mail Online reported.
“Malaysia’s version is the edited version where story involving Jesus was completely cut off,” he wrote, according to Malay Mail Online. He also noted that the running time of the movie in Malaysia was 114 minutes, compared to an Internet listing of 125 minutes.
Another Facebook user, Christine Ooi Wai Ching, said scenes showing the crucifixion of Jesus had been removed, the report said.
The 1959 film starred Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur. The current version, Ben-Hur, features Morgan Freeman as the sheikh who trains Ben-Hur as a charioteer and Jack Huston in the leading role.
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