Sorry, but the movie is popular today because it is a good movie. Not because rappers started basing their lives around it. For whatever reason, critics and the public didn't embrace this film back in 1983. Maybe because it was too violent with too much language. Well, society has loosened since then and the violence in this film is actually pretty tame by today's standards.

But to say that rappers "discovered" this film and made it popular is a stretch. They played a hand in it's resurgence -- sure -- but the movie was always good enough on its own. It's not like Battlefield Earth is going to be a popular movie if 50 Cent starts rapping about it tomorrow. The films mentioned in rap songs or any other form of art need to be good on their own to become popular.