Journey to Mecca (2009)

So much average

As Good As It Gets

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

I thought the footage of Mecca was amazing. I've always wanted to see this in detail, and IMAX was the right medium for showing the grand scale of it all. I'm not Muslim, or even a believer, but I was moved by the force and depth of this very outward, visible and geographical expression of Islam. Thank you to everyone who brought this to the screen. My only complaint is that these scenes were far too brief, and perhaps there was not enough explanation about what we were seeing.However, the desert scenes, and the story of Ibn Battuta's journey, did not work for me. Perhaps the film was too short to do it justice. The writing, acting and plot in this part of the movie felt unchallenging and unsophisticated to me. I don't feel I really learned that much about Ibn Battuta.Was this part of the movie about the journey or about the desert? I feel the desert in general does not really lend itself to IMAX. I also feel that if an IMAX movie is to be made about the North African desert, it should present the viewer with mind-blowing and never-before-seen scenes of the desert. This movie didn't do that.Most IMAX movies don't have much of a plot. They tend to take documentary form. This movie couldn't decide whether it was a documentary about Mecca or a 14th century travel adventure film. I wish the filmmakers had made a straightforward film about Mecca, explaining in more detail what we were watching, including the meaning and logistical nightmare that must be involved. However, I suppose that if they had done this, they wouldn't have been allowed to film it at all.However, despite my comments, I don't think you should miss this movie. Its brief images of Mecca and what happens there make it worth sitting through the rest.

I saw this film and was blown away by the technical shortcomings, more specifically, how out of focus this entire film is. I'm not a regular Imax viewer, and this may be a very common problem, but it seemed as if virtually none of the film was in focus. I'd say less than 20-30% of footage had a clear focal point, and that was typically less than 10-20% of the total screen. The only exceptions were scenes involving CGI maps.The topic was interesting, my knowledge of the hajj was limited prior to seeing this, and the film created the 14th century cities with style, but technical issues impacted my enjoyment of this film. It's a shame too, there are so many seemingly beautiful desert landscapes in this movie.

This was a great movie and for me, it was a wonderful first experience with an IMAX film. The only disappointing thing about it was the short length of the film. The imagery was stunning, especially the aerial shots of Mecca. The story was great and even more impressive when you think about how much knowledge you gain from such a short film. The characters were believable and sincere. The shooting style was unique. It took me a moment to realize the story changed gears when showing present day Mecca.All in all, I highly recommend. If nothing else, go watch it so more movies like this will be made.

Journey to Mecca tells the story of a young lawyer from Morroco - Ibn Battuta who traveled from Morocco to Mecca and later to China about 700 years ago. He traveled more than 4,000 kilometers over desert by himself, dealing with bandits, wars, and the Sahara on the way.The images in this HUGE Imax film of the Sahara, Mecca and Arab culture are stunning and memorable. I have to say it was one of the first IMAX film where I really felt moved (along with Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure). The explanation of the Haj are clear and informing.This was apparently a very hard movie to film. They had to get approval by the King of Saudi to shoot it. Also none of the crew were allowed to view the Kabba so they had to hire and train a local crew specially for the task.The result is a stunning experience of a movie. Excellent story, excellent movie… Highly recommended