Even without the vertigo-inducing effects that audiences have come to expect from IMAX features, “All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live!” is larger than life. This hourlong documentary, which lets viewers get up close and personal with some of popular music’s biggest stars, proves that IMAX technology can be used to make a film that not only entertains but also has some artistic value.

At the outset, the film suggests it will be a documentary of the anatomy of a rock concert. The screen, split in four separate simultaneous films, shows stage hands preparing for a concert and different industry stars talking about what music means to them. It doesn’t seem like it will be much more than an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music.” But the show quickly gets better.

The first profile is on Sting and Cheb Mami, an Algerian-born French singer. The audience quickly discovers why the movie stands out: The excellent sound quality makes the listening experience comparable to attending a live concert. But perhaps the most thrilling aspect of “All Access” is the fact that the audience gets so close to the stars. The agile camera floats in and out between performers, catching their tiniest movements. When Sting and Mami perform the hit “Desert Rose,” the movie theater becomes a concert hall.

The movie then switches over to the funk-filled world of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. The segment starts with a clich