For some students, the legend of “Napoleon Dynamite” was heard before it was seen.

Allison Niksich, junior in apparel merchandising, says her friends wouldn’t stop quoting the film, even before she had seen it.

“I knew practically all the lines before I saw it at Varsity,” she says.

After her first viewing, Niksich says the appeal slowly became apparent.

“I didn’t know what to think,” she says. “Then, I thought the movie was stupid, but it grew on me. I think it’s definitely better the second time you see it.”

“Napoleon Dynamite” is set in a small town in Idaho, with much of the action playing out in a local high school.

Though the characters’ bizarre style of dress and peculiar behavior give the film an ’80s-like appearance, the film is set in the present day.

Napoleon, played by Jon Heder, faces both a strange home life and hostile classmates, all of whom seem to conflict with the unusual teen’s good intentions.

The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2004. Now, more than a month after the film was released on DVD, the popularity is still going strong.

Lee Poague, professor of English with a film emphasis, says much of the appeal can be attributed to the type of genre the film falls under — geek comedy that goes all the way back to the 1984 film “Revenge of the Nerds.”

Poague says the film is a very sophisticated type of revision of the geek genre. He says the film’s meaning lies in the challenges people face with everyday social issues.

“For a lot of people, high school is where social pressures are at their best and worst. The social world it depicts is close to us and one in which nervous laughter may be appropriate,” Poague says. “It’s about people whose lives are restricted, about outsiders.”

The movement of the film’s characters can also be seen in the way they are transformed, Poague says. The film starts with an ironic, satirical view of Napoleon, but that view changes to one of admiration by the film’s end.

“This is due to his own self-consciousness,” Poague says. “Granted, his dancing is not exactly Fred Astaire.”

However the film’s message might be interpreted — whether it’s a portrayal of social movement or the mundane activities of the outsiders in a small town — its popularity can’t be denied.

“The film has obviously struck a chord with the public and film fans,” says Steven Feldstein, senior vice president of marketing communications at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Feldstein says the film has over-performed in relation to its box office take. The movie made $44 million at theaters and has now sold about four million DVDs, which translates to about $70 million to $80 million.

Locally, the film’s popularity reflects this national appeal.

Travis Sailsbury, an employee in the electronics department at Wal-Mart, 3015 Grand Ave., says the store has burned through its stock of the film numerous times.

After Wal-Mart’s first shipment in late December, Sailsbury says, the store kept ordering more.

“We got an emergency order the following Monday — a large shipment — and sold out of those,” he says. “We sell out of it about every other week.”

Although the film has made fans of many viewers, it still has its critics, like Ryan Fitzpatrick, junior in meteorology.

“I’ve seen the movie twice, and it didn’t get better the second time,” he says. “The movie’s popularity is too over-hyped, and the constant quoting is starting to become a nuisance. You can walk around [campus] and hear it everywhere.”

Curt Kattleman, a fan of the film and senior in mechanical engineering, says the film’s sudden appeal is based on everyday people relating to everyday people.