Executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett put in a lot of love and effort to recreate the classical film "Ben-Hur," which is based on the novel written by Lew Wallace. Sadly for them, the big-budget movie was considered a flop.
Downey and Burnett hoped to inspire viewers to adopt a forgiving heart, and that is exactly what is highlighted in the film after the lead character Judah Ben-Hur meets Jesus Christ.
"Woven into the fabric of it is the story of faith," Downey told the Belfast Telegraph. "It is because Judah Ben-Hur has an encounter with Jesus Christ that Judah's heart is open. There, at the foot of the cross, we see his hardness drop away."
Because of this integral storyline, it is sad to hear that Malaysia, which is a predominantly Muslim country, has decided to cut all of the scenes depicting Jesus Christ to avoid breaking Islamic laws. Because of the cut, the entire movie became 11 minutes shorter.
A Facebook user named Jerry Terry Derulo is grateful that United International Pictures Malaysia invited him to the premiere event of the movie, but he commented that the "Malaysia version is the edited version where story involving Jesus was completely cut off! The actual length of the movie, according to IMDb, is 125 mins; Malaysia edited is only 114 minutes," according to The Malay Mail Online.
For its part, UIP Malaysia explained on its Facebook page that it was "required to oblige local legal requirements and guidelines for the movie to be released locally in the market."
Other netizens also objected to the cut, with one user named Christine Ooi Wai Ching saying it was unfortunate the crucifixion of Jesus was removed from the film. Others said Jesus and His scenes were central to the plot, and that the biblical epic is incomplete without them.
