45 movies that were surprisingly banned in cinemas

By Martina Ward On Jun 9, 2022

Since the dawn of time – well, the start of cinema – many films have been banned in certain countries due to various reasons.

Thanks to strict laws or conflicting beliefs, censors from all around the world – China, Ireland, Lebanon, to name just a few – continue to work hard determining whether new releases are fit to be screened in cinemas.

While some titles, including graphic horror films The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Human Centipede 2, get banned for obvious reasons, there is a long history of unexpected features – such as Disney releases and inoffensive superhero films – that failed to make the cut.

The latest release to strike controversy isThe Lady of Heaven, which has been banned in select UK cinemas after protests against the film broke out.

Below is a roundup of the 45 films you never realised were banned – and the reasons why.

Scroll through the gallery to see what made the list.

45 films you never realised were banned

Show all 46

1/4645 films you never realised were banned

45 films you never realised were banned

45 films you never knew realised were banned

Click through the gallery

45 films you never realised were banned

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

The ban on All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) was ordered in Germany by Adolf Hitler himself who disliked its anti-war message. This came after an initial run during which members of the Nazi Party disrupted screenings by releasing mice into the cinema and, at one stage, attacking Jewish audience members. Censors in Austria, Australia, Italy and France also banned the film in the early 1930s.

Universal Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

American Sniper (2015)

Many might find Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper (2015) to be something of an insult, but Iran banned the war drama – based on the life of the US military’s deadliest marksman – for being just that. Censors deemed it “offensive” to its nation.

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The anti-war sentiment present in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now saw the film banned under President Park Chung-hee’s regime in 1979.

United Artists

45 films you never realised were banned

Argo (2012)

Ben Affleck’s Best Picture-winning 2012 drama Argo was banned in Iran due to its negative portrayal of the country.

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Finnish censors believed that Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 Soviet silent film Battleship Potemkin would incite a Communist revolution, so gave the film an outright ban.

Goskino

45 films you never realised were banned

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Disney’s live-action remake of its 1991 classic was banned in Kuwait due to homosexual references involving the character LeFou (Josh Gad). It evaded a ban in Russia after being slapped with a 16+ age certificate and in Malaysia after having the references cut altogether.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Ben-Hur (1959)

China banned William Wyler’s religious epic Ben-Hur in 1959 under the regime of Mao Zedong for containing “propaganda of superstitious beliefs, namely Christianity”. While most films go on to have their ban lifted, the country has never given the Oscar-winner permission to be shown.

Loew’s, Inc

45 films you never realised were banned

Borat (2006)

It turns out there are some people who don’t find Sacha Baron Cohen that funny, notably officials in all Arab countries (except Lebanon) who banned his 2006 comedy Borat for being “too offensive”.

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

Brief Encounter (1945)

Officials in the Catholic country of Ireland found David Lean’s romantic drama Brief Encounter to be too accepting of adultery to be shown in cinemas.

Eagle-Lion Distributors

45 films you never realised were banned

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

The homosexual relationship at the centre of Ang Lee’s 2005 drama Brokeback Mountain saw the film banned in all Arab countries bar Lebanon, where it was released in a censored format.

Focus Features

45 films you never realised were banned

Child 44 (2015)

The number of banned films in North Korea runs pretty high, but an unexpected feature on the list is the Tom Hardy-starring Child 44 (2015). Countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus all followed suit.

Summit Entertainment Lionsgate

45 films you never realised were banned

Christopher Robin (2018)

Censors in China denied the release of Disney’s Christopher Robin in 2008 because the character of Winnie the Pooh has become a symbol of resistance against the country’s ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Stanley Kubrick met a lot of opposition with A Clockwork Orange in 1971. While the film was never banned outright in the UK (it was withdrawn at the director’s request after his family received death threats because of it), it wasn’t shown in cinemas in Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea due to its depictions of violence and gang rape. It wasn’t screened in the UK until after Kubrick’s death in 1999.

Warner Bros

45 films you never realised were banned

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

The high-profile adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code was banned in (take a deep breath) China, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa and Solomon Islands due to content deemed blasphemous.

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

The Danish Girl (2015)

The Danish Girl, Tom Hooper’s film inspired by the life of transgender painter Lili Elbe, was banned in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Malaysia on grounds of “moral depravity” in 2015.

Universal Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Deadpool (2016)

After it was decided that Deadpool couldn’t be edited without affecting its plot, Chinese officials initially banned the film citing explicit content. Uzbekistan followed suit as the film “violated the country’s societal norms”, while it received heavy editing in order to be shown in India.

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

The Death of Stalin (2017)

Armando Iannucci’s 2017 comedy The Death of Stalin failed to make the cut in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan because of its perceived anti-Soviet theme.

eOne Films

45 films you never realised were banned

The Departed (2006)

Martin Scorsese’s crime thriller The Departed hit a nerve with China in 2006 thanks to a line of dialogue that suggested its government intends to use nuclear weapons on Taiwan, a sensitive issue for the country. The ban has never been lifted.

Warner Bros

45 films you never realised were banned

District 9 (2009)

District 9, Neill Blomkamp’s science-fiction film from 2009, was slapped with a ban in Nigeria due to accusations of being xenophobic and racist towards its citizens.

TriStar Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

The adaptation of EL James’s erotic drama Fifty Shades of Grey may not have been as raunchy as some were hoping, but it was considered too explicit for audiences in Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.

Universal Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Funny Girl (1968)

William Wyler’s romantic musical Funny Girl was banned in Egypt because its male lead Omar Sharif – an Egyptian Muslim – is shown in a romantic storyline with the Jewish Barbra Streisand, who was vocal in her political support for Israel at the height of military tensions with Egypt in 1968.

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Ghostbusters (2016)

Paul Feig’s all-female reboot of Ghostbusters was denied a release in China due to censorship laws prohibiting the promotion of cults and superstitions. Not even changing the title to Super Power Dare-to-Die Team (yes, really) could help its cause.

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Goldfinger (1964)

Sean Connery’s third film as British spy James Bond, Goldfinger (1964), had been released in Israel for six weeks when it was revealed that one of its main actors, Gert Fröbe, had a Nazi past. It had the ban lifted when a Jewish survivor came forward with the revelation that his life and his mother’s were probably saved after being hidden from the Nazis by Fröbe.

United Artists

45 films you never realised were banned

The Hunger Games (2012)

The country of Vietnam deemed the numerous murders shown in blockbuster The Hunger Games too violent for teenage audiences and decided to slap the film with an outright ban.

Lionsgate Films

45 films you never realised were banned

Jules and Jim (1962)

François Truffaut’s beloved French drama Jules and Jim found itself at the centre of a ban in Italy for its “attitudes toward sex”. The ban was quickly lifted.

Gala

45 films you never realised were banned

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Not many people enjoyed 2017 sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but the cinema censors in Cambodia sit top of that list. Thanks to the moment that sees the film’s antagonist working from a lair in a Cambodian temple, the Colin Firth action film was handed an indefinite ban.

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

Mad Max (1979)

It was a particularly gory death scene that saw Australian thriller Mad Max (1979) banned from being seen in New Zealand as it unintentionally mirrored an incident with a real gang shortly before it was released. The same scene saw the film banned in Sweden until 2005.

Roadshow Film Distributors

45 films you never realised were banned

Milk (2008)

Milk, Gus Van Sant’s 2008 Oscar-winning biopic about gay rights activist and US politician Harvey Milk, was initially banned in Samoa with no reason given, though it was eventually revealed the film had been deemed “inappropriate and contradictory to Christian beliefs and Samoan culture” for its depiction of homosexuality.

Focus Features

45 films you never realised were banned

Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)

The religious satire featured in Monty Python’s Life of Brian was considered blasphemous in countries including Ireland, South Africa and Norway. Director Terry Jones used the controversy to the film’s advantage, putting up posters in Sweden with the tagline: “So funny, it was banned in Norway!”

Cinema International Corporation

45 films you never realised were banned

Modern Times (1936)

Charlie Chaplin’s classic 1936 film Modern Times was banned in Nazi Germany for advocating Communism.

United Artists

45 films you never realised were banned

Noah (2014)

Darren Aronofsky’s biblical drama Noah (2014) found itself the subject of a ban in China, as well as several Muslim countries, because it was perceived to contradict the teachings of Islam.

Paramount Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Malaysia disregarded Pulp Fiction for release and banned the Quentin Tarantino film scenes featuring drug abuse, explicit nudity and sexual violence.

Miramax Films

45 films you never realised were banned

Rambo (2008)

Sylvester Stallone’s return as Rambo in 2008 – which he also directed – was deemed offensive by censors in of Burma who opposed the way the film depicted its country’s soldiers.

Lionsgate

45 films you never realised were banned

Sausage Party (2016)

Officials in China were so worried that adults would assume animated film Sausage Party (2016) to be a children’s film that they slapped it with an outright ban. On the flip side, France gave the film a 12-rating.

Sony Pictures Releasing

45 films you never realised were banned

Sex and the City 2 (2010)

It’s a wonder the first film of HBO series Sex and the City wasn’t banned in Vietnam considering the critically-maligned sequel – released in 2010 – was prohibited there due to a “conflict of cultural values”.

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Shrek 2 (2004)

Although brief, the ban on 2004 sequel Shrek 2 was incurred in Israel due to the Hebrew dub added to the film ahead of release. A particular joke aimed at Israeli singer David D’Or’s high voice prompted the musician to take legal action, halting the film from being released until its removal.

DreamWorks Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

The Simpsons Movie (2007)

The Simpsons Movie was banned in Burma due to the “juxtaposition of the colours yellow and red”, which is considered to convey support for rebel groups in the country.

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Trey Parker and Matt Stone ruffled plenty of feathers with their big-screen South Park film, Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and the comedic depiction of Saddam Hussein saw it banned in Iraq. The duo’s 2004 film Team America: World Police would later be banned by North Korea for its comedic depiction of Kim Jong-Il.

Warner Bros

45 films you never realised were banned

300 (2006)

Iran didn’t take too kindly to Zack Snyder’s depiction of the Persian military in his 2006 film 300.

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

2012 (2009)

North Korea suppressed 2012 from release in 2009 because the film depicted what the government considered to be an important year for the nation in a negative light (it coincided with its first leader Kim Il-Sung’s 100th birthday). According to reports, several people were arrested for viewing imported copies of the disaster film and were charged with “grave provocation against the development of the state”.

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Despite permitting other Martin Scorsese films to make the cut, countries including Malaysia, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Kenya banned The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) for its profanities and depiction of sex and intense drug use.

Paramount Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot’s past in the Israeli army sparked a campaign to boycott the DC film in Lebanon due to conflict with both countries. The 2017 film was later banned there as well as Qatar and Tunisia.

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Censors in Trinidad banned Kevin Smith’s 2008 comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno out of fear that teenagers would mimic the plot and make their own porn movies.

The Weinstein Company

45 films you never realised were banned

Zoolander (2001)

Ben Stiller’s 2001 comedy Zoolander was deemed “unsuitable” for release in Malaysia due to its negative depiction of the country. Shockingly, Iran also banned the film over its perceived support of gay rights.

Paramount Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Any film featuring Claire Danes

Claire Danes’ honesty regarding her time working in Manila came with a price. After telling Premiere Magazine the country “smelled like cockroaches”, the council passed a motion to ban the Homeland star from the city and prevent her films from being shown. Although Danes issued an apology, Manila said they will lift the ban when they are “satisfied”.

20th Century Fox

Since the dawn of time – well, the start of cinema – many films have been banned in certain countries due to various reasons.

The latest release to strike controversy isThe Lady of Heaven, which has been banned in select UK cinemas after protests against the film broke out.

Below is a roundup of the 45 films you never realised were banned – and the reasons why.

Scroll through the gallery to see what made the list.

45 films you never realised were banned

Show all 46

1/4645 films you never realised were banned

45 films you never realised were banned

45 films you never knew realised were banned

Click through the gallery

45 films you never realised were banned

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Universal Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

American Sniper (2015)

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The anti-war sentiment present in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now saw the film banned under President Park Chung-hee’s regime in 1979.

United Artists

45 films you never realised were banned

Argo (2012)

Ben Affleck’s Best Picture-winning 2012 drama Argo was banned in Iran due to its negative portrayal of the country.

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Finnish censors believed that Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 Soviet silent film Battleship Potemkin would incite a Communist revolution, so gave the film an outright ban.

Goskino

45 films you never realised were banned

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Ben-Hur (1959)

Loew’s, Inc

45 films you never realised were banned

Borat (2006)

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

Brief Encounter (1945)

Officials in the Catholic country of Ireland found David Lean’s romantic drama Brief Encounter to be too accepting of adultery to be shown in cinemas.

Eagle-Lion Distributors

45 films you never realised were banned

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

The homosexual relationship at the centre of Ang Lee’s 2005 drama Brokeback Mountain saw the film banned in all Arab countries bar Lebanon, where it was released in a censored format.

Focus Features

45 films you never realised were banned

Child 44 (2015)

Summit Entertainment Lionsgate

45 films you never realised were banned

Christopher Robin (2018)

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Warner Bros

45 films you never realised were banned

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

The Danish Girl (2015)

Universal Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Deadpool (2016)

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

The Death of Stalin (2017)

Armando Iannucci’s 2017 comedy The Death of Stalin failed to make the cut in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan because of its perceived anti-Soviet theme.

eOne Films

45 films you never realised were banned

The Departed (2006)

Warner Bros

45 films you never realised were banned

District 9 (2009)

District 9, Neill Blomkamp’s science-fiction film from 2009, was slapped with a ban in Nigeria due to accusations of being xenophobic and racist towards its citizens.

TriStar Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Universal Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Funny Girl (1968)

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Ghostbusters (2016)

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Goldfinger (1964)

United Artists

45 films you never realised were banned

The Hunger Games (2012)

The country of Vietnam deemed the numerous murders shown in blockbuster The Hunger Games too violent for teenage audiences and decided to slap the film with an outright ban.

Lionsgate Films

45 films you never realised were banned

Jules and Jim (1962)

François Truffaut’s beloved French drama Jules and Jim found itself at the centre of a ban in Italy for its “attitudes toward sex”. The ban was quickly lifted.

Gala

45 films you never realised were banned

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

Mad Max (1979)

Roadshow Film Distributors

45 films you never realised were banned

Milk (2008)

Focus Features

45 films you never realised were banned

Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)

Cinema International Corporation

45 films you never realised were banned

Modern Times (1936)

Charlie Chaplin’s classic 1936 film Modern Times was banned in Nazi Germany for advocating Communism.

United Artists

45 films you never realised were banned

Noah (2014)

Darren Aronofsky’s biblical drama Noah (2014) found itself the subject of a ban in China, as well as several Muslim countries, because it was perceived to contradict the teachings of Islam.

Paramount Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Malaysia disregarded Pulp Fiction for release and banned the Quentin Tarantino film scenes featuring drug abuse, explicit nudity and sexual violence.

Miramax Films

45 films you never realised were banned

Rambo (2008)

Sylvester Stallone’s return as Rambo in 2008 – which he also directed – was deemed offensive by censors in of Burma who opposed the way the film depicted its country’s soldiers.

Lionsgate

45 films you never realised were banned

Sausage Party (2016)

Sony Pictures Releasing

45 films you never realised were banned

Sex and the City 2 (2010)

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Shrek 2 (2004)

DreamWorks Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

The Simpsons Movie (2007)

The Simpsons Movie was banned in Burma due to the “juxtaposition of the colours yellow and red”, which is considered to convey support for rebel groups in the country.

20th Century Fox

45 films you never realised were banned

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Warner Bros

45 films you never realised were banned

300 (2006)

Iran didn’t take too kindly to Zack Snyder’s depiction of the Persian military in his 2006 film 300.

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

2012 (2009)

Columbia Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Paramount Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Wonder Woman (2017)

Warner Bros Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Censors in Trinidad banned Kevin Smith’s 2008 comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno out of fear that teenagers would mimic the plot and make their own porn movies.

The Weinstein Company

45 films you never realised were banned

Zoolander (2001)

Paramount Pictures

45 films you never realised were banned

Any film featuring Claire Danes

20th Century Fox

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