Videotape:Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace

Who could know that a little science fiction movie in the summer of 1977 would change the shape of American popular culture? But that's precisely what "Star Wars" did, reshaping expectations for blockbuster movies, transforming the toy industry with licensed products, and creating a popular culture touchstone with vast influence. The three movies that made up the original trilogy--"Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back," and "The Return of the Jedi"--grossed about $870 million in theaters sales, an incredible sum for the time; the toys and ancillary products of the Star Wars franchise, however, raked in another $2 billion dollars for George Lucas and his corporate partners. And, of course, fans of the movies needed to own the movies themselves in videocassette and DVD formats.