You will never have an experience quite like this one with Rolling Stones At The Max.

In a time when the theatrical movie business model is under assault for a variety of reasons, Rolling Stones At The Max serves as a reminder that cinema’s greatest tools and best-equipped theaters can deliver uniquely exceptional entertainment that goes beyond simple definition.

Back in 1990, IMAX cameras captured one of history’s greatest rock bands performing some of the genre’s defining hits. The first-ever concert film shot on IMAX cameras returns to theaters for a limited run on December 10, putting audiences in the front row and on stage as the Stones perform live.

There is something poetic about such a cinematic tribute to this band, given their propensity for appearing as the needle drop to so many indelible moments of movie history. Audiences know these songs, but they may not know the performances, and they certainly don’t know them like this. Even if you’ve been lucky enough to see the groundbreaking band perform live, you probably didn’t stand right next to Jagger while he strutted the stage, belting the lyrics that define multiple eras. You probably haven’t noticed every intricate movement of Keith Richards’ fingers as they pluck the notes that helped transform rhythm and blues into rock and roll.

The Rolling Stones own their own spot in cultural history. Jagger and Richards didn’t just make the music; they are each themselves one of a kind icons, oft imitated and never repeated. To have the highest resolution time capsule preserved and now remastered with the band going full force near the height of their powers is a treat for the senses and the historians.

For generations who only know them as part of the past, Rolling Stones At the Max brings them into the present day in the best way possible. Younger people may not know how much of today’s landscape was defined by these artists, songs, and performances. They can experience it fully now.

It’s not just the songs everyone knows and loves, though, that make the film memorable; it’s the visual and auditory feast that includes shots of a massive crowd from every imaginable angle. You’ll see the 1990s crowd from individual, detailed faces to the massive, moving waves that look more ocean than human. You’ll also be onstage in between songs, getting a glimpse of every strange, unique element of the experience, from where the set lists lie to how many cigarette butts are in the ashtray.

Jagger and Richards take center stage most of the time, of course, and you can’t take your eyes off them for long. How frequently do you get to see the masters at work? The film allows audiences and fans to take in the details of other performances and individuals who also define the music we know so well. Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, and Bill Wyman were impactful mainstays of the band for decades, and you can see and hear their excellent contributions more clearly than ever before here. The horn section, backup vocals, keyboards, and sax are also all on display in a way that’s nearly impossible to appreciate otherwise.

We love IMAX for what it can do for traditional narrative filmmaking, and we love movie theaters for delivering the big, bold experience that laptops, phones, and even massive at-home screens and systems cannot. We don’t always consider, though, that the very same tools and locations can give us other cultural experiences that excel in different ways. The Rolling Stones At the Max is a time machine. When the lights go down, and you are enveloped in massive scale visuals and audio, you will go back to 1990, and you will see a band perform in a way you cannot now or ever again.

This couldn’t have come at a more perfect time to remind everyone what is at stake when we eschew the theatrical model and experience. IMAX cameras and theaters deliver something far beyond what is available at home. No matter what someone is willing to pay for a concert, they will never experience the proximity that an IMAX concert film can deliver.

The business of entertainment isn’t just built around efficiently delivering the most well-liked things to the most possible people, but to create unique experiences that fall outside of the box, and bring us to places we could never get otherwise. How do you ever put a valuation on standing on stage with the Rolling Stones during their concert? You don’t. You can’t. The artists, technicians, and investors who helped create this gave a lasting gift to us all right in time for the holidays.

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