Originally posted by: Invader Jenny
TPM is already starting to die away from the collective minds of both the nerds and the general public. And that was only 7 years ago. The PT will go the way of the dinosaur and just become a novelty of the hardcore fans, but the true nature of the Force (i.e. the Original Trilogy) will live on. It's already got a good 23 years on the PT and going strong.

Very well put, Jenny.

Star Wars was a true blockbuster movie - an industry-changing film. It changed the way people thought about science fiction movies, it changed the way people thought about adventure stories, it changed the way films were made, it changed the way special effects looked. It was a true turning point in the history of film. In the film world there's pre-Star Wars science fiction movies and post-Star Wars science fiction movies.

The PT is none of that. They're just some movies that came out in the summer time along with several other films in their respective years. They didn't run for a year, grab the collective conscious of the public, generate a wave of copycat films and TV shows for years afterwards, or strike a chord with multiple generations.

If it weren't for the internet - the PT would have been forgotten already. Star Wars, on the other hand, survived and flourished solely as a film. A film that you had to drive to go see. There was no internet fan base, no message boards, no fan-based user communities. There weren't multiple-edition DVDs that you could watch at any time of the day, no special feature-laden discs with running commentary by the director or the wardrobe assistant that you could turn on and off at random.

Star Wars existed in only one form - a movie playing at the local cinema. On that alone, it captured the imagination of millions.