race, etc. are much better in the movie. Also the introduction of Jesus early on in the movies doesn't exist in the book (other than the three wisemen). Also the whole sideplot of Simonides and that of Balthasar and Iras, etc. were rightfully not included in the film.
The plot of Judah funding Christ's uprising and him being converted to the idea of the Jewish Messiah earlier than at the end was worse in the book IMHO.