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Rick And Morty Seasons 1-5 Blu-ray Review

The story so far.

In “Rick And Morty” Seasons 1-5 (which is comprised of 51 episodes), the story revolves around the adventures of a kooky scientist (Rick) and his grandson (Morty). Plots involve Aliens, dimensions, Snuffles the dog, Scary Terry, Morty inside a homeless man’s body, VR, King Jellybean, Meeseeks, Morty and Jessica’s relationship, sex robots, Morty Jr., The Devil, planetary adventures, duplicates, “Titanic” reenactments, a party, frozen time, alternate realities, Unity, a musical talent show, a flying car, Tiny Rick, Birdperson’s wedding, Rick in a galactic federal prison, Death Stalkers in a post-apocalyptic Earth, Pickle Rick, The Vindicators (superheroes), assassination attempts, an alien spa, Atlantis, memories, Froopyland, monsters, an app, a heist, a dragon, space snakes, parasites, gangsters, a pregnant planet, a Beth clone, Morty’s sister Summer, Beth and Jerry’s relationship, decoys, Planetina (a superhero), sperm monsters, robots, demons, AI, a turkey President, Birdperson, portals, GoTron Ferret, and Rick’s backstory.

Since its debut back in 2013, “Rick And Morty” has become a sci-fi cult animated series that has developed a devoted fanbase (not to mention a sizable amount of merchandise). The outlandish Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland created series is notable for playing with sci-fi tropes and concepts ala alternate realities and alien worlds, spoofs pop culture (everything from “The Purge” to “Alien”), and even storytelling itself in “Never Ricking Morty.” The series has also been celebrated for its weird characters (such as Mr. Poopybutthole), trippy imagery and plotting, and often surrealistic imagery. 

On the other side of the coin, the show’s strive to go against the grain is also its downside. In its attempt to get ultra weird, the series tries too hard comedically as the writers throw all sorts of ideas and concepts at you. Now that could be a positive, but the show’s dysfunctional family of characters (who are often unpleasant) make it hard to invest in “Rick And Morty” as a whole. A series can have villains and anti-hero leads to be sure, but with “Rick And Morty,” it’s a struggle to find characters to latch on to let alone embark on galactic journeys with for seasons on end. It doesn’t help that the show seems to have lost its way as the latest season (5) fell flat completely. 

Even though Harmon and Roiland’s brand of comedy may not be my cup of tea, there were highlights to be sure ala “Lawnmower Dog” and “Pickle Rick,” but the show’s style and premise ultimately become tiring. With all of that said, there are still plenty of viewers out there who treasure the series and can’t wait to see what sort of antics the titular characters will get into next. For those viewers, this Blu-ray set is very much for you.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? The often colorful animated series looks sharp in hi-def.

Audio Track: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 for the first 4 seasons and 5.1 DTS-HD MA for season 5. How do they sound? The audio is pretty consistent throughout but the 5.1 DTS track is certainly the strongest here.

Extras:
* Digital copy
* A fold-out poster
* 7 storyboarded deleted scenes from season 1.
* A 19 minute season 1 behind-the-scenes featurette
* Feature-length animatics for all season 1 episodes
* Commentaries on all 11 episodes of season 1 featuring Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Ryan Ridley, Bryan Newton among others.
* Guest commentaries on “Rick Potion #9) by “The Simpsons” writers (including Matt Groening), “Rixty Minutes” by “The Walking Dead” creatives Robert Kirkman and Scott M. Gimple, and “Close Rick-Counters Of The Rick Kind” by “Adventure Time” creatives Pendleton Ward and Kent Osborne.
* Commentary on all season 2 episodes featuring the usual suspects and some surprise guests like Sheamus, Richard Christy,
* Animatics for all season 2 episodes (2 takes on episode 1).
* 2 minutes of deleted animatic sketches of season 2
* “Rick and Morty Season 2 Premiere Party With Chaos Chaos”- A 43 minute live music event in L.A. at Cinespace.
* Animatics for all 10 episodes of season 3.
* A behind-the-scenes “Inside The Recording Booth” extra.
* A short 2 part “Rick And Morty Origins”
* “Inside The Episode” featurettes on all 10 season 3, season 4 and season 5 episodes.
* Commentary on all 10 episodes of season 3 by the creative teams and bonus commentaries on “The Rickshank Rickdemption” by Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson, “Pickle Rick” by Harmon, Roiland and Russell Brand and another track by “Game Of Thrones” crew David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Peter Dinklage.
* “A Day At Rick And Morty: Inside Season 4”- A look at the show’s staff members
* “Creating Snake Jazz”- A look at the music.
* “Directing Rick And Morty”- Director interviews.
* “Samurai And Shogun”- Some sort of short.
* “Prop Process” is all about the prop design for animation.
* “Character Creation”- Character designers talk about creating characters.
* “Animation Challenges”- Self-explanatory.
* A featurette on background animation aptly titled “Backgrounds.”
* 2 short featurettes on the direction of “Mortyplicity” and “Rickmurai Jack.”
* A brief “Season 5 Hype” extra to sell the season.
* “Animation And Compositing”- An extra about these two technical fields.
* “B-Story Generator”- Ron Schraab and Dan Harmon talk about creating B-Plots in this 2 parter.
* “Coloring Rick And Morty” covers the coloring process.
* “Fighting Gravity: The Making Of Rick And Morty Season 5”- A making of (with interviews) about the challenges of creating a season during the pandemic.

March 30, 2022 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Adult Animated Series, animation, Comedy, Dan Harmon, Rick And Morty, Rick And Morty Seasons 1-5 Blu-ray Review