I got the Return of the King super-duper extended DVD for Christmas, and so far we've watched the movie (verdict: even better, but I have some quibbles I'll probably post about), then watched it again with the commentary (verdict: fascinating insight into the process). I've also watched most of the featurettes on the Appendix discs. In one of them, I was surprised and delighted to see, in front of God and everyone, David "Beyond 360°" Salo, linguistics graduate student and husband of Dorothea "Caveat Lector" Salo, talking about Tolkien's invented languages.
He's an inspiration to us all. Let it no longer be said that being a fantasy nerd and a linguist doesn't pay off—David has turned that conventional wisdom on its head. Some have said that studying linguistics only prepares you for an academic job or asking "Do you want fries with that?" in six languages, but David has blazed a linguistic trail into the lucrative heart of the movie industry. Experts estimate that there are over two jobs providing dialog translated into fictional languages for the motion picture industry, and more such positions are nearly certain to open up in the coming decades. Truly, David Salo is a Marc Okrand for our generation. David, we salute you!
(Which is my tongue-in-cheek way of saying "congratulations, and thanks for playing a part in such an amazing adaptation of LotR.")
I also got the extended DVD for christmas but have only managed to watch the movie and none of the documentaries. Though I am looking forward to them as I found them fascinating for the previous two installments. I would love to watch with the commentary tracks, but with, I believe, four different tracks to watch, I'm not sure I could sit through a 4 hour movie 4 more times.
Anyhow I'm looking forward to your commentary on what you liked/disliked even though I sometimes disagree with it.
BTW what happened to your archives? They only go back to November...
Posted by: Blinger | January 07, 2005 at 02:42 AM
Well, three, actually. You'll hear about the third in due time. Almost four, but one totally fell through (producers changed, director changed two or three times, script repeatedly scrapped... I will be enormously surprised if this movie ever gets made, and even MORE surprised if it fails to suck).
David says "thank you." I say "thank you; now buy his Sindarin book." :)
Posted by: Dorothea Salo | January 07, 2005 at 06:20 AM
Oops, I forgot to plug the book—thanks, Dorothea.
Blinger, the archives back to the beginning are there if you click on "ARCHIVES", it just that it only shows four weeks in the sidebar.
Posted by: The Tensor | January 07, 2005 at 08:53 AM