Journey to Mecca (2009) User Reviews

Mecca as you've never seen it before

[Laakbaar · 6/10 · 19 January 2014]

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.

Review on "Journey to Mecca"

[user-700-843222 · 6/10 · 31 May 2013]

I watched this movie for my World Religions class, as we have been studying Islam. Prior to the film, though I had knowledge about the Hajj and what is is, it wasn't until after watching the movie that I really realized how huge and amazing it is. "Journey to Mecca" is a great movie showing Mecca from a different perspective and telling the true story of Ibn Battuta's long journey to Mecca.

Ibn is a rich and religious law student in Tangier in 1325, when he decides to go on the Hajj. Ibn has to travel from Morocco across the North African desert to get to Saudi Arabia, and along the way, he is attacked by bandits, he becomes dehydrated, he is rescued by the desert Bedouins, and eventually joins a caravan of thousands of people on their way to Mecca. Joining Ibn, is the Highwayman, paid for protecting Ibn. Through their travels Ibn and the Highwayman become friends. Upon finally reaching Mecca, Ibn experiences the Hajj like it was 700 years ago.

I personally found the movie really cool. First of all, it was filmed so beautifully, the shots were amazing. I also liked how the filmmakers combined the story of Ibn Battuta with modern Mecca. Ibn Battuta's story was one that I had never heard before so it was really interesting learning about someone so crucial to the spreading of Islam. I really appreciated that the movie was not that long as well.

Very Inspiring

[HabibieHakim123 · 8/10 · 14 July 2020]

"Very inspiring movie, and very inspiring journey, Amazing cinematography, Short but very inspirational"

Something new

[ng · 10/10 · 12 August 2009]

Journey to Mecca is really two IMAX films in one. It starts and ends with a documentary approach to modern Mecca and in between is tied with the story of Ibn Battuta, an adventurer from the 14th Century. Obviously, in the length of an IMAX, anyone expecting the Arabian Nights covering 40 years of his life in 40 minutes is going to be disappointed. Instead, the film concentrates on his 'Journey to Mecca', a story of shipwrecks and banditry. I thought it was a smart way to go, spicing up what is at heart, a most serious movie, with sword fights while never letting go of the religious quest that is at the heart of the Hajj. Most impressive of all are the shots of the modern pilgrims. Any one who's jaw doesn't drop at the sight of millions of men and women dressed all in white, covering a mountain top, doesn't know the true meaning of the word 'epic'.

Breathtaking imagery and moving subject

[chicojk · 9/10 · 11 August 2009]

I think I understand Artemis' frustration insofar as very little exists in cinema on Ibn Battutah, one of the world's most influential travelers, unequaled among great explorers in my mind since the 14th Century. A 3 hour Hollywood epic would certainly do his Rihla ("travels") justice but I have to say by focusing on IB's departure from home on his first pilgrimage to Mecca this Imax film blew me away with its stunning imagery and music as well as its open spiritual approach to the Hajj.

The aerial shots of pilgrims meandering across various deserts were enough to blow my mind. And as a non-Muslim, to witness the rituals inside the Great Mosque was an unforgettable and touching experience. Perhaps a devout Muslim would be more technical in his/her appreciation of the film.

I saw the film at a festival in Paris (where it won Public Prize) and noticed how moved the Muslim audience was, which made up about half of the audience when I attended. I highly recommend this film. Imax films can be spectacular visually but predictable in subject matter, rarely extending beyond animal or sport topics. This one delivers the spectacle you would expect and applies it to a moving dramatic line that enlightened and moved me.

The experience of one histories most amazing adventures

[anthony_barker · 10/10 · 4 February 2009]

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

Using Ibn Battuta's name to sell soft-core documentary

[Strivin-to-BBetter · 3/10 · 23 May 2009]

Disappointing. Really. From all the interesting, adventurous and cool things that happened in Ibn Batutta's life none were used. An average person will have a distorted view of Ibn Batutta. If I hadn't read his Book I would too. I feel that the creators of this movie cleverly used his name to sell a documentary on Hajj. Even there too - Hajj is just sloppily touched on and the movie abruptly ends. There is no real in-sight into how Muslims used to live or how Ibn Batutta lived - you go in knowing nothing and come out knowing less. I hear that a lot of 'research' was done but apart from the footage of the Ka'ba (which you just need permission and a camera for) I don't see any of it. There was so many obvious glitches (like every man in the Great Caravan having mustaches instead of beards and the women walking around with their hair loose under small scarves - clearly extras from the eastern film industry and in no way properly portraying the style of Muslims couple of hundred years ago.)Anything you saw in a Moroccan film you'll see here.I don't know what research these creators are talking about. From a plot point of view this movie was bland. We see Zinoune travel through the boring, empty,dry desert most of the time. There was no real substance or story-line. I was expecting more considering how exciting the trailer and synopsis were made out to be. The only good thing is that Muslims aren't portrayed as mass-murderers and the Hajj has accurate details (we'll pretend we never saw everyone coming up from Sijda without the Imaam saying 'Allaah-hu-Akbar'). In short - a highly-pumped, overrated, pointless movie with no idea what it wants to be or where its going. A loose cannon. I can't believe that we're supposed to believe that they actually did research about Ibn Batutta, ancient Arabia or Hajj. You'd have to know absolutely nothing about Islaam to watch this film - if that's you, then go for it, but if you know even a little bit - take a pass. Read his book; it was way better.

Wonderful

[raid-sara · 10/10 · 16 August 2010]

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.

This should have never been released for Imax

[Ebonyks · 4/10 · 10 November 2010]

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.

Something new!

[hasanxenith · 8/10 · 7 July 2021]

Many people complained about focusing more about Mecca than journey itself. But this movie is created from Ibne Battuta's journal, So it is acceptable because it was Ibne Batutta's view about Mecca and religion .

Allover , it was a peaceful medieval journey for me . This movie also expressed about the hardship of the traveller in those days . I always wanted to view a documentary or movie about this legendary traveller , It created a opportunity for know his first step .