LotR movies remixed as trenchant Russian political satire

Dmitri Puchkov is a Russian ex-cop who goes by the alias Goblin. "Goblin" is his nom-de-edit when he's remixing Lord of the Rings, dubbing in Russian dialogue to lampoon cops, oligarchs, and gangsters. He's working on a re-cut of Star Wars now. (This is old news, but I only just read about it)

Frodo Baggins is renamed Frodo Sumkin (a derivative from the Russian word sumka, or bag). The Ranger, Aragorn, is called Agronom (Russian for farm worker). Legolas is renamed Logovaz, after a Russian car company famed for its Ladas. Boromir becomes Baralgin, after a Russian type of paracetemol.

Gandalf spends much of the film trying to impress others with his in-depth knowledge of Karl Marx, and Frodo is cursed with the filthy tongue of a Russian criminal.

The films - which Puchkov says were originally made for his close friends but have now gone out on the internet - have found cult appeal in Russia's crowded pirate market, where a pirated, high-quality DVD in both Russian and English costs £5. That is all ordinary Russians, who earn only $300 a month in Moscow, can afford. The Russian pirate industry is worth $311 million, and has grown by 25 per cent since last year, pirates making more than 40 million disks a year.

Link