^ Well I mean, there’s tons of classic films that appeal to all generations. I’m thinking of stuff like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wizard Of Oz - movies that came out ages ago but have still been widely viewed by children of subsequent generations. I guess the OT is another example of this. But I do think that living through the release and hype of a movie as a child at least increases the chance of fondly recalling the movie later in life, even if not everyone falls into this particular pattern.

Clearly, this is a multi-variable thing. A lot of the movies that came out when I was a child are now considered universal classics - like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, etc. I love these movies - perhaps partially because of the nostalgia, but I also love modern “classics” that came out when I was older, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Prequels are a strange case of films that have mass appeal, but nonetheless remain universally “controversial” because of their widely-perceived flaws. It’s like tons of people love them, but they’re never good enough to break through into a universal “classic”. One way to explain this is to hypothesize that their appeal is mostly concentrated among a certain age demographic who saw these films as kids.