RICK AND MORTY: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON – A Blu-ray/DVD and Digital HD Review by John Strange
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-raytm I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.
Rick and Morty of the Adult Swim cable network is an acquired taste. The staff who bring us this animated series are “different” as the series’ humor proves. The jokes in the foreground of the show are more vulgar than anything that Fox would dream of getting past the network censors. In fact, two of the bonus extras (“B-Story Generator Vol. 1 and Vol. 2”) in this offering speak to where they get some of their wilder (perhaps weirder?) story ideas.
Season five is proof that you can make pretty much anything funny if you can present it properly. Combine excellent writing skills with an amazing crew of digital artists and colorists and you get a cool visual experience that grabs your need for low-brow smutty humor while smothering your sense of right and wrong for the duration of the episode.
As happens from time to time, I received this disk (the gorgeous Steelbook edition), on the Friday afternoon before its release date causing me to force-feed myself the episodes and bonus extras in order to get this review up on our site on time.
My viewing experience with Rick and Morty: The Complete Fifth Season was mind-blowing. As each episode played on my television, my brain did its best to wrap itself around the complex plotlines that were at their core really simple plots wrapped in weird, sometimes gross, but decidedly simple ideas of what might be humorous, under certain conditions.
This season has an amazing load of weird stuff such as human turkeys, Boob World, Mr. Nimbus (one of my favorites), Evil Morty, decoy families (causing an Asimov Cascade), Planetina (and a doomed love affair), and having The President over for Thanksgiving dinner at the Smith home.
To supplement the season’s episodes, they have given us a nice selection of bonus extras. The Rick and Morty team start off the bonus extras with “Fighting Gravity”: The Making of Season 5. This one starts with a bit of a bitch-fest about the difficulties inherent in making an animated series amidst the pandemic before getting down to the basics of the job. Tales of zoom meetings and loneliness were mixed with tales of collaborating and discovery.
Animation and Composting, Backgrounds and Coloring Rick and Morty give us extended background in what it takes to give the show its distinctive look and feel. This is the type of featurette I love to see. Series like this one rely on the magic of the artists. This team is good and these featurettes show why.
We have two featurettes discussing the directing of individual episodes. Directing Mortyplicity and Directing Rickmurai Jack are excellent behind-the-scenes snapshots.
Season 5 Hype is the short produced to introduce Season 5 to the public before its release.
The remaining featurettes, Inside the Episode, are each dedicated to giving a preview of one of the ten Season 5 episodes. They are pretty good.
Overall, I liked the episodes a lot as well as most of the bonus featurettes. Sadly, while the audio levels for the episodes were good, the audio levels for the bonus items were extremely low. I had to crank the volume on my TV way up to hear them. I also loved the look of the Steelbook case the disk arrived in. And the Blu-raytm disk itself was a work of art, covered in drawings from the show.
Created By:
- Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland
Cast:
- Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammar, Sarah Chalke, Keith David
Episodes:
- Mort Dinner Rick Andre
- Mortyplicity
- A Rickconvenient Mort
- Rickdependence Spray
- Amortycan Grickfitti
- Rick & Morty’s Thanksploitation Spectacular
- Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion
- Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort
- Forgetting Sarick Mortshall
- Rickmurai Jack
Extras:
Digital:
- None
Blu-ray/DVD:
- “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.
- Animation and Composting – Crafting the show’s visuals is a complex process and the crew is here to show us why.
- 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 jaw-dropping look at the amazingly detailed environments packed into every episode.
- 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 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.
- “Inside the Episode” – For every episode from Season 5
Specifications:
Runtime:
Feature:
- 220 Minutes
Enhanced Content:
- 44 Minutes
Studio:
- Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
Release Date:
- 12/07/2021
Region:
- A/1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Website:
MPAA Rating:
- NR
Selig Rating:
Film Rating:
- 5 Stars (unless you have sophisticated tastes…)
Bonus Features Rating:
- 5 Stars
Picture Quality Rating:
- 5 Stars
Audio Quality Rating:
Episodes:
- 5 Stars
Bonus:
- 2 Stars
Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars: Should add to your DVD collection at any cost
4 Stars: Worth owning, but try to catch it a sale
3 Stars: Plan to get it, but wait to buy it used
2 Stars: Worth taking a look at, but not owning
1 Star: Pick it up at a garage sale and use it for drinks
0 Stars: Makes a great Trap Shooting target
