The summer blockbuster movie season is here, so where do you go when you cravethat larger-than-life film experience?

May I suggest Michigan’s largest IMAX screen?

That’s right! With a screen six stories high and eight stories wide, The Henry Ford IMAX Theatre is simply the best place in all of Michigan to see some of this summer’s mega-hits, including Cars 2: An IMAX 3D Experience and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2: An IMAX 3D Experience.

But it’s not just the visual element that makes seeing movies in our IMAX theater such a spectacular experience. Watch this video as I explain how the quality of our equally-giant sound system and unsurpassed quality of IMAX’s 15-perforation/70mm film stock makes for the most fully-immersive sight and sound IMAX experience in Michigan.

What was the best IMAX experience you’ve ever had?

I was first attracted to The Henry Ford because it is important for me to work with products and people that enrich lives. Now that I am here, it is wonderful to walk through Henry Ford Museum or Greenfield Village and see children’s faces light up with curiosity, or pass a family posing together for a photo.  People make memories here, and I am privileged to be a part of it.  For these reasons, I am pleased to tell you about a film currently playing here at The Henry Ford IMAX^® Theatre.

Many of us remember Ibn Battuta from our history classes, but few know the real extent of his travels.  In the film Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta, we learn of this extraordinary traveler’s first pilgrimage to the Hajj.  As a young man, Battuta felt compelled to leave his home in Morocco and travel to distant lands.  In 1325, he began his journey by traveling to the destination considered the most sacred by Muslims throughout the world, both then and now: Mecca.  Battuta would not return home to Morocco for nearly 30 years.  We often see images of the white-clad masses gathering in Mecca, but only some understand the spirit that motivates the more than three million pilgrims who make this trip each year.  This film brings that spirit into focus.  Through the story of Ibn Battuta, we learn of each ritual’s origin, see how they were performed nearly 700 years ago and how they are still practiced today.

In Battuta’s time, the journey took much more commitment.  Just getting to Mecca took over a year – but now, people arrive by planes, trains, ships, and even automobiles.  .  Through the film, we’ll follow Battuta as he travels across the North African desert, visits the splendid city of Cairo, and how he is thwarted by war at the Red Sea, turning back and heading north to join the legendary Damascus Caravan with thousands of pilgrims, camels, water carriers, beekeepers, bankers, soldiers, and musicians.

Journey to Mecca marks the first and only time an IMAX^® camera has captured an aerial view of the Hajj – from a helicopter hovering 200 ft above Mecca – and the first time an IMAX^® team has been admitted to this most sacred sanctuary of Islam.  The permission process alone lasted nearly two and a half years.  It took 85 permits for a team of 80 people drawn from 30 nations to embark on the largest and most ambitions production ever to take place in the Gulf region.  The result of these efforts is a fantastic voyage from Morocco to Saudi Arabia.  You’ll fly above the desert as aerial shots capture the largest caravan caught on film since Lawrence of Arabia.

Narrated by Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, this remarkable and dramatic story begins and ends in modern day Mecca.  When we first see the pilgrims, we are unfamiliar with their motivations; but after travelling with Ibn Battuta, we better understand the reasoning behind each pilgrim’s journey.  Remarkable time lapse footage captures the constant activity at the Grande Mosque, from sunrise to nightfall.  We see first-hand the tremendous scale of the Hajj and how many people are involved.  And it really hits you that while Ibn Battuta’s story is compelling, he is only one of billions of pilgrims who have made this same journey over hundreds of years.

If you have not yet experienced an IMAX^® film or are simply looking for a reason to experience it again, this film is your chance.  Journey to Mecca encompasses all that IMAX^® has to offer: thrills, drama, action, adventure, emotion – and yes, you might even learn something.  Join us here at The Henry Ford for one of our daily screenings; you will not be disappointed.

For more information on the film please visit:

http://www.journeytomeccagiantscreen.com/

And for a behind-the-scenes look at how this film was made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79jlw8HtDA

Hope to see you soon!