Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6 - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Yup, it’s that time of year again. Rick and Morty has gone through 6 seasons, and with each season Warner Brothers announces a complete collection (so far) of the series in a space saving box. Yeah, I get it. A “complete” box set is usually best after the series has wrapped up, but not all of us wants to have 6 individual seasons on our shelf when a single 6 disc case will do. Or we haven’t been collecting the series up until this point, and the price point for a box set to catch up is more enticing than waiting multiple years for a truly complete set, or not have it at all. Either way, this set is simply going to be the seasons 1-6 sets put together into a nice space saving case, and a habit that will probably continue as Rick and Morty just got renewed THROUGH season 10 by Adult Swim.

(some of this below will copied from the seasons 1-5 and seasons 1-4 boxset review simply because it is the same content).

Rick and Morty is one of those shows that you either love or hate (generally). It’s totally out there and completely bizarre, but still manages to be incredibly nuanced and well structured in it’s narrative. The story revolves around mad scientist Rick Sanchez suddenly showing up at his daughter Beth’s doorstep after being presumed missing for 20 something years. He’s home now, though, and wants to move in with Beth and her husband Jerry, much to both their chagrin. While Beth is happy to see her father once more, Jerry is much more reticent, begrudging the old man his new home for multiple reasons. The main one being that Rick is a sociopath scientist who not only practices his experiments out of their garage, but frequently takes Jerry’s son Morty and daugther Summer on his perilous interspatial quests.

The show also relies heavily on pop culture, both from today and from yesteryear, without seeming like it’s pandering or relying on it for the show’s popularity instead of storytelling. Heck, they even managed to make the movie Zardoz relevant again to an audience who probably is WAY to young to have seen Sean Connery in that red thong. It’s a show that has crossed over from being just a show, to also becoming a meme (seriously, half the memes out there anymore are either Spongebob or Rick and Morty), and has sort of transcended into a sort of cultural animated icon for many.

After 6 years, the series is still running strong in my opinion. Season 6 was a true return to form, and was firing on all 4 cylinders again after the mediocre season 5. As a fan of the show since its inception, I can only hope that they keep the remaining 4 seasons scheduled at the same quality level and not dip into The Simpsons or later seasons of South Park and American Dad level of boredom.

for those wanting a more detailed break down of seasons 4-6 (which have been reviewed individually here) you can click below

Season 4
Season 5
Seaosn 6


Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




Video:

Seasons 1-6 have all shared the same high quality level of encoding as the series is usually 220 minutes or less put on a single BD-50 with a solid bitrate. The galaxy hopping adventure series is full of color, pizazz and a LOOOOOOT different primary shades that really pop off the screen. The animation style is fairly simplistic, so it’s not hard to look great, but overall the show’s animation really shines on Blu-ray. The first couple of seasons was probably a 4/5 rating, but in the 3rd season and beyond it has been a steadily increasing clime that has hovered around the 4.5/5 rating mark consistently. Again, this is a great Adult Swim series that looks amazing on Blu-ray with only minor banding to act as the single annoyance of the 6 disc set.









Audio:

The star traveling adventures of Rick and his grandson Morty makes for good surround sound mixes as the show travels everywhere and anywhere it can. Lasers, space ships crashing, dragons smashing (yes, dragons) and all sorts of crazy hijinks makes for one exciting mix in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD (DTS-HD MA for seasons 5-6). Surrounds get tons of activity with all the craziness, and the bass is a constant actor n the game. There’s some subtleness to the mix too, though, as you can hear feet crunching in gravel, or the soft sounds of a kittens purr in the background. All around great mix, and very VERY stable throughout all 6 seasons. The change over to DTS-HD MA 5.1 in the 5th season isn't a big thing outside of it getting a very mild level boost. All 6 seaons share a very similar sound qualtity, and I can't find any one season that stands out as better or worse than any of the rest.







Extras:

Season 1

• Commentaries for Every Episode
• Animatics for Every Episode
• Behind the Scenes
• Deleted Scenes

Season 2

• Commentaries for Every Episode
• Animatics for Every Episode
• Deleted Animatic Sketches
• Rick and Morty Season 2 Premiere Party Featuring Chaos Chaos

Season 3

• Commentaries for Every Episode
• Animatics for Every Episode
• "Inside the Episode" for Every Episode
• Exclusive "Inside the Recording Booth"
• Origins of Rick and Morty Part 1 & 2

Season 4

• A Day at Rick and Morty: Inside Season 4
• "Inside the Episode" for Every Episode
• Creating Snake Jazz
• Directing Rick and Morty
• Samurai and Shogun
• Prop Process
• Character Creation
• Animation Challenges

Season 5

• "Fighting Gravity": The Making of Season 5 (Exclusive to Set): In this deep dive discussion, co-creator Dan Harmon and the crew reflect on the challenges of completing this season in the middle of a pandemic and the creative process behind the story's biggest revelations.
• "Inside the Episode": For every episode from Season 5
• B-Story Generator Vol. 1: Co-creator Dan Harmon and writer Rob Schrab reach into their box of random ideas to conjure up hilarious side stories.
• B-Story Generator Vol. 2: Co-creator Dan Harmon and writer Rob Schrab return to brainstorm even more ludicrous side stories.
• Backgrounds: The show's artists give us a jaw-dropping look at the amazingly detailed environments packed into every episode.
• Animation and Compositing: Crafting the show's visuals is a complex process and the crew is here to show us why
• Coloring Rick and Morty: Get an in-depth look at how the crew uses vibrant color to create fantastic alien worlds.
• Directing 'Mortyplicity': An inside look at the evolution of this ambitious and action-packed episode, from initial storyboards to final product.
• Directing 'Rickmurai Jack': A behind the scenes look at one visualization of one of the most ambitious episodes in the series' history.
• Season 5 Hype: Dan Harmon and the writers give you a taste of what's in store for Rick and Morty's wildest season yet.

Season 6

• Rick and Morty: Inside Season 6 – Take a trip through the show's portal-less sixth season with co-creator Dan Harmon, co-executive producer Steve Levy, showrunner Scott Marder, and writers Heather Anne Campbell, Albro Lundy, Rob Schrab and James Siciliano
• Anatomy of a Scene: "Bethic Twinstinct" (Featurette) – Co-creator Dan Harmon, showrunner Scott Marder, director Douglas Einar Olsen and writer Anne Lane dig into the carcasses of two scenes while you stare at them in a numb trance.
• Anatomy of a Scene: "Night Family" (Featurette) – Clock the most extensive car chase in the series' history with co-executive producer Albro Lundy, showrunner Scott Marder, writer Rob Schrab and director Jacob Hair.
• Anatomy of a Scene: "Analyze " (Featurette) – Co-creator Dan Harmon, showrunner Scott Marder, director Fill Marc Sagadraca and writer James Siciliano go blow-for-blow on Jerry's fight with Pissmaster.
• 10 Inside the Episodes (Featurettes) – Take a deeper look into each of the ten episodes from the season.

Final Score: ​

If you have been here very long than you already know that this is simply all 6 individual seasons tossed into a 6 disc compact case and sold at a severe discount. There’s nothing new here if you’ve already collected the previous six seasons, or the season 1-5 boxset, but it is a great option for those looking to catch up (although be warned, they will likely release a Season 1-7, 1-8, 1-9 and 1-10 set each year as the show continues on). Simply put, this is a nice economical way for newbies to catch up who haven’t been collecting the show to date. Solid set, with great content and a nice slim box.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke, Kari Wahlgreen
Created by: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, DTS-HD MA 5.1 (Season 5 and 6), French, German DD 2.0 (Season 5 and 6)
Subtitles: English SDH, (French German, Dutch for Season 5 and 6)
Studio: Warner
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 1362 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: Own on Blu-rayTM and DVD 09/12/2023

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

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[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I love the series so for fans who don't have the box set, this is good.