Why So Blu?

Rick And Morty: Season 4 (Blu-ray Review)

Despite insane popularity, Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty had a two year hiatus which in part was do to some renewal contract negotiations.  And once the dust settled, fans could find relief in that Rick and Morty was not only coming back, but that it would be here to stay for an additional 70 episodes (Which could like end up being 7 more years). The show returned for its fourth season in November of 2019, splitting it in half with the remainder beginning this past May. Needless to say, the show skipped zero beats, feeling like it had picked up just where it had left off. Warner Bros will be releasing the fourth season on Blu-ray (Along with a redeemable digital code) filled up with some fresh bonus features. There will also be a limited steelbook edition for the season available as well. You can pre-order these items to have for release day when Rick and Morty: Season 4 arrives on September 22nd.  And if you’re of the thoughtful type, you’d use the Amazon Associates link below in doing so.

Season

Buckle in for disappointment because there’s no way these episodes will be good enough for how long you waited. But maybe they will be? It’s season four! It’s sexy and smooth. Buckle in! Did I already say that? Definitely stay buckled in.

“Rick and Morty remains a ratings leader for Adult Swim and retains an enormously loyal fan base season after season,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, WBHE Senior Vice President, Originals, Animation & Family Marketing. “The award-winning series that has spawned comic books, video games, tabletop games, merchandise, music videos and more brings fans a hilarious fresh slate of exciting adventures this season that is sure to get bring laughter into your homes!”

Rick and Morty returned from its break with absolutely zero dust to shake off. The return seamlessly came back with its typical sense of outlandish humor, terrific ideological and comedic takes on science fiction stories as well as its strict dedication to serialization, canon and continuity. Sure, Rick and Morty is goddamned hilarious, but the show is absurdly clever and incredibly smart that you also receive the thrills of good storytelling and dramatics despite how ridiculous what you’re watching is. And yeah, I am probably the umpteenth person to tell you this, so I sound like a stooge. Fact of the matter is, its true (“All of it” says Captain Solo).

Creator Justin Roiland truly knows that genre matters not, but can see the Xs and Os in storytelling. Told seriously or jokingly in space or in the old west, I feel that Roiland would be able to convey the exact beats and enjoyment with which this show embraces. Being a wildly popular show with a (at times disgusting) fanbase, it appears this goes over well. But, I have to wonder if these fans enjoy the surface or just a peeled back layer or two and really see the clever brilliance for what it fully is. I’m sure many a colleague would love and appreciate the show’s brilliance, but that stigma of past behavior from the rabid faithful has kept them hesitant to seek out or support he endeavor. You have to understand, though, that this is not Roiland’s wishes and he doesn’t appear to be stirring the pot or encouraging the behavior of his base.

Apologies for a slight rant and shedding light on the uglier side of things. Rick and Morty is truly a full quadrant piece of entertainment television. For genre nuts, this is an absolute must in your viewing repertoire. Or if you just like some outlandish stupid shock value comedy you’ll be at home too. Season 5 has not announced a release date yet, but I’m hopeful it will be this fall again for 5 episodes and just keep this new rotation of 5 in November and 5 in May going. The show doesn’t appear to have lost any steam and manages to keep its possibilities endless. And hell, what a dramatic cliffhanger (with a SONG!) to leave season 4 on. Can’t wait to see where Roiland and company take us from here.

Episodes

Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat

The Old Man and the Seat

One Crew Over the Crewcoo’s Morty

Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty

Rattlestar Ricklactica

Never Ricking Morty

Promortyus

The Vat of Acid Episode

Childrick of Mort

Star Mort: Rickturn of the Jerri

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail:  Primarily 2-D animations with a flat color scene like Rick and Morty have no trouble shining on the Blu-ray format.  One might worry that all 10 of the 30 minute episodes and bonus features are crammed on one disc, but there’s no real sign of that harming the viewing. The image is vivid, strong and features plenty of details clearly done in the animation to go with an overall sharp image.

Depth: There’s a pretty strong, three dimensional, depth of field on display where the 2D and cgi animations marry. Character movements are smooth and feature no issues with distortion.

Black Levels: Blacks are nice deep, flat color. They do well in shadow and night, with good defined outlining helping to sharpen the image. No crushing present.

Color Reproduction:  Colors pop quite strong and this really has a nice vivid palette to display. There are wonderful glows and other bright moments from lasers, lighting and such.

Flesh Tones: N/A

Noise/Artifacts: Clean

Audio

Format(s): English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: Ricky and Morty carries a nice 5.1 mix as the series has been known to have on these releases. Its a crazy as a blockbuster with the sound design and carries that weighted impact. Its a nice lossless mix that is balanced and thorough with its playful behavior toward the vocals, effect and music.

Height: N/A

Low-Frequency Extension: Blaster fire, bass drops, explosions, ship engines and much more really provide a nice pounce and bounce from your subwoofer.

Surround Sound Presentation: This is pretty playful and well thought out with effects and atmospherics really commanding the room and leaving no speaker unturned. Sound travel is quite dynamic and really whooshes back and forth across the room with a real grace and impact.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Vocals are clear and crisp with good characteristics of the actors’ diction being picked up with the mix.

Extra

Rick and Morty: Seaon 4 is a 1-disc release and comes with a redeemable digital code.

A Day At Rick And Morty: Inside Season 4 (HD, (9:11) – A visit with some of the artists and non-Justin Roiland creators as they are in a spot where they are in the process of working on both Season 4 and Season 5 at the same time in a complete crunch. We get to see a lot of artists in different points of their specialties with sketches and such. “It wouldn’t be the show if we weren’t working straight up until the deadline.”

Creating Snake Jazz (HD, 2:30) – How composer Ryan Elder came up with the music of snake jazz.

Directing Rick And Morty (HD, 2:55) – The directors talk their fun and give a little insight onto what you have to do to direct animation as well as some of their little tricks to help them.

Samurai And Shogun (HD, 5:24) – A bloody, Samurai influenced Rick and Morty short.

Prop Process (HD, 2:48) – We hear from the prop designer who basically animates anything that isn’t a human on the show. He takes it from script description to sketch to animation.  “Props get the most notes from me” says Justin Roiland. For this, they go over the Plumbus.

Character Creation (HD, 2:36) – “I’ve never drawn so much blood in my life.” We get the process of the character designers and some of their fun and routines with animating the characters.

Animation Challenges (HD, 2:30) – From the show getting more cinematic to crowd scenes, some of the animators go over their difficulties.

Inside The Episode – These are really brief clips with folks like Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon giving a little bit of insight on the episode.

• Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat (HD, 1:23)
• The Old Man and the Seat (HD, 1:24)
• One Crew Over the Crewcoo’s Morty (HD, 1:22)
• Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty (HD, 1:24)
• Rattlestar Ricklactica (HD, 1:23)
• Never Ricking Morty (HD, 1:39)
• Promortyus (HD, 1:47)
• The Vat of Acid Episode (HD, 2:13)
• Childrick of Mort (HD, 2:04)
• Star Mort: Rickturn of the Jerri (HD, 2:07)

Summary

Rick and Morty continues its supreme entertainment dominance in its fourth season after taking a couple of years off. It returns as if nothing ever happened with instant classics and meme worthy pop culture contributions. The Blu-ray comes with a terrific presentation and a fun list of extras. Add to that the digital copy code for access anywhere (In addition to your Hulu account). Its a rather complete set that when you see it and the price you’ll be saying “You son of a bitch, I’m in!”

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