Sorry I thought from what I posted the implication would be clear that the older stuff was better than what preceded it, better than its own contemporaries, and better than what came after. Saying it was ahead of its time is just one justification for why it is better. When something is memorable and beloved, it registers with you in a way that the mediocre cannot. It may not be necessarily better in other terms (technical, realistic, etc), but "better" is entirely subjective anyway.