Rick and Morty: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)

Easily the funniest show on TV at the moment. I don't even need to sell you on the show though, so I'll talk about the Blu-ray. The quality of the video is excellent. I'm happy to see the show looking its best: smooth animation, well-mixed sound, and no video compression artifacts. I can't say the same for my experience watching the show on cable. The episodes are uncensored. I didn't notice any difference visually but the language is all there. There's no option for censored audio as far as I can tell. Fine by me but I know that bothers some people. The creator commentaries are hilarious. Lots of great banter the entire time, just the right amount of talking about the episode and cracking jokes. As a fan, you learn a lot about the group dynamic behind the show. It's exciting to learn who brings which elements of humor to each episode. If you are familiar with Roiland's work before Rick and Morty, it was hilarious to learn that half of the Roiland-esque humor is actually Dan Harmon or another writer making fun of Justin, and then the mockery makes its way into the final product. I watched one bonus commentary with Matt Groening, Pendleton Ward, and a few others. It was pretty awful. None of them had anything really interesting to say about the episode when they weren't just sitting and watching it. It's a shame, because I'm a big Pen fan. I was very happy that was a second commentary track. The behind the scenes special feature is alright. It goes for a wacky-to-the-point-of-awkwardness host gag that succeeds about as much as it fails. It's unfortunate because I wanted more office (bathroom) tours, more interviews with artists, and less of the host's antics. This behind the scenes is the only glimpse we get of a lot of the faces behind the show. Obviously I enjoy irreverent humor, I'm watching this show, but I like it more when the humor connects and it's balanced. It's worth a watch but it'll grate a little and leave you wanting the raw interview footage. There aren't many deleted scenes, but most episodes have at least one. I wish there was a way to watch them all with a few seconds of context from the finished episode. In general, the deleted scenes were all deleted for good reason, so it's not a huge loss either way. Animatics of every episode are on the disc. They're a little rough to watch but you can see a lot of stuff that was cut or changed that doesn't really fit the definition of a "deleted scene". They do not each have production-focused commentary (like on the Futurama DVDs). That's ok. The Blu-ray comes with a parody Chick Tract called "The Good Morty", giving you another look at the religion of the Mortys in Close Encounters of a Rick Kind. It's a great little souvenir to have. It would have been awesome if there had been three copies in the case, and the content evangelized the show, so people who bought the DVD could leave them in public bathrooms or hand them to friends, like actual chick tracts. Anyway, show is great, Blu-ray is great, go ahead and buy it.

I discovered Rick & Morty on a late-night Cartoon Network marathon block. I don't really watch that channel much, as I tend to find the humor of shows like Robot Chicken and Squidbillies gets tedious quickly. This one caught me totally off-guard with its relentless, rapid-fire jokesmithing. I was mildly surprised to find that Dan Harmon was a co-creator. I've always regarded its humor and characters as very hit-and-miss, and frankly felt the constant campaigning to keep it on the air year-after-year was a sign people seriously needing to get over it. But Rick & Morty never once scored a miss with me. Every episode of season 1 is a quotable-filled classic. The premise is pretty straightforward. The smartest man in existence--that is to say, not just now, but throughout all time, and not just in this universe, but all of the infinite dimensions--moves in with his estranged daughter and spends his time engaging in substance abuse while devising gadgets in the garage. He takes his grandson on adventures to perilous parallel universes, usually in order to find more exotic narcotics to abuse. You see, genuine intelligence is not an asset in this life, because genuine intelligence penetrates deception, and most people's notion of how to enjoy life is based on swathing themselves in layers of denial regarding its duration and significance. Unlike most sitcoms that are designed to help you cope with the ugly truth of human existence through escapism, Rick & Morty is a tool with which you cope through confrontation. The Blu-ray is not chock full of features. If you have these episodes on your DVR, you're not getting anything you don't already own. There's a "behind-the-scenes" video, but it doesn't provide any anecdotal insights about the show's creation, just writer's-room and sound-booth shenanigans. There are also deleted scenes (i.e. storyboards) for most episodes, but it's not a must-have. Really, the main reason to buy this is to vote with your wallet for the continued production of one of the funniest shows on TV.

Yes my name is Beth Smith, NO, it's not because I'm a Rick and Morty fan. That's really my name. lol. (For those who don't know, Beth Smith is Morty's mom.) Like with "Adventure Time", I was turned on to Rick and Morty by my 14 year old son. We're both fans of "Adventure Time", "Futurama", "Star Trek", etc. So when "Rick and Morty" first came on I wasn't sure what to think of it, but then as time went on, I realized I was hooked in yet another fandom. Like many other cartoon series geared toward adults or older teens, "Rick and Morty" references other pop culture which may or may not be vague to younger viewers. For example, an episode about Morty's sister working for an old man named Mr. Needful, which is an homage to Stephen King's "Needful Things". Episode four (M Night Shaym Aliens) has the best soundtrack of them all, when it keeps playing Jerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" in instrumental and the aliens that Rick and Morty encounter remind me of "Megamind". The cover art on the disc case (not the cardboard sleeve) even shows some creatures that look like they were inspired by "Futurama" and "Adventure Time". (We noted a turquoise alien that looked like Lumpy Space Princess. Of course there ARE "Adventure Time" ties here..as one of R&M's creators Justin Roiland voices Earl of Lemongrab in that series!) The series itself is spun off of a raunchier version called "The Adventures of Doc and Mharti" (these can be found on You Tube) ...which of course parodies "Back to the Future". (The series here explores alternate dimensions however.) But I want to give kudos to why the DVD is better than the episodic versions. Outside of no commercial breaks, TV can only let one get away with so much. Even though the word s**t can be said on primetime cable now, the f word and a few other derogatory words still cannot. (Only "South Park" got away with that.) Often when you purchase a DVD set of a TV series, the censored version is on the DVD too. Not so with "Rick and Morty"! The actual words can be heard, no bleeps. Those with sensitive ears might just want to overlook it, but honestly if you're watching something that airs on Adult Swim in the first place, you should have no room to complain about coarse language. :) The best reason of all of course is to binge watch "Rick and Morty" any time you want, and not have to wait on Adult Swim to air them. I haven't seen it often as of late. The only downside is that there are only eleven episodes in this box set, and it leaves you aching for more. So I hope they hurry up and air season 2 soon and not do what Cartoon Network/Adult Swim is notorious for doing is releasing subsequent seasons slowly and leave fans hanging for too long.

I will preface this by saying: This is literally one of best shows I've ever watched. Honestly, the pilot episode is a little rough around the edges. It almost turned me off of the show completely. That being said, I hope everyone actually gives it a solid chance, because I did and the payoff by the end makes it more than worth it. Be aware, in season one, the writers (and voice actors) really don't catch their stride right away and it takes several episodes before they fully flesh out the characters. Once they start to understand the strengths and weaknesses, things take off in a huge way. The core story line isn't strictly linear, so it technically doesn't matter which episode you watch or when. For the most part, this makes the show more accessible to viewers who might just catch it on TV one night randomly, but it leaves things a bit scattered for hardcore viewers. The writing usually has you asking more questions than it answers, which can lead you down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos and Googling. (I consider this a good thing.) There are also many hidden messages and easter eggs in Rick and Morty. You can watch it 5 or 6 times in a row and always find things you missed before. Several call backs, side plots, background stories and homages to other things are tucked away, just begging to be discovered. Overall, this show boasts some of the most clever writing I've seen in a while, it features amazing voice over talent and it's not afraid to take chances. Give it shot. You won't be disappointed. And that's the waaayyyy the news goes!

Some people say Rick and Morty fills the hole left by Futurama, and others say it's far superior. I'm with the latter. At only eleven episodes to date, Rick and Morty is easily my favorite piece of sci-fi ever! Hell, it's one of my favorites, period! Each plot goes to its furthest extent; I've never seen any show, parody or not, take so many sci-fi staples and put together such fresh, witty, and hilarious stories. And on top of that, this show can get real very, very, quickly. Things that we normally take for granted from fiction (comedy, sci-fi, cartoons) actually have real-world consequences in RaM. When it hits hard, it's not an easy sentimental thing. You're genuinely touched, or horrified, or in awe. So yes, this show is truly unique and a cut above the others. I only ever buy DVDs for a TV show if it's one of my favorites, and I couldn't pre-order this one fast enough! The DVD itself is fine. The commentaries aren't always the most focused and the guy in the behind-the-scenes (I think that's what it's called?) is really obnoxious. It's not really a problem for me, but it may be for some of you. Also, I wish it came with an episode guide. There are only 11, I know, but it's just something I always like to have.

Rick Sanchez, a flask swigging, morally relativistic, quantum party animal and super-genius inventor, has returned after a lengthy absence to live with his daughter Beth, an equine surgeon, her insecure, unemployed husband Jerry Smith, their impressionable teenage daughter Summer, and their nervous, fretful adolescent son Morty. Rick has enlisted Morty to be his wing man and fellow adventurer in a series of inter-dimensional, trans-temporal, and routinely hair-raising capers. Belching, stammering, chin perpetually slathered with drool, Rick occupies himself crafting marvels in the family garage for his own amusement from household odds and ends and exotic minerals from other worlds, exposing himself and Morty to a googolplex of dangers, with warning advisories typically issued just after the nick of time. "I know that new situations can be intimidating." Rick assures his grandson. "You're looking' around and it's all scary and different. But, you know, meeting them head on, charging right into them like a bull, that's how we grow as people. I'm no stranger to scary situations. I deal with them all the time. Now, if you stick with me, Morty, you're gonna be… Holy crap, Morty! Run! I've never seen that thing before in my life. I don't know what the hell it is. We gotta get out of here, Morty! It's gonna kill us. We're gonna die!" Rick is not merely the smartest man on earth. He is the smartest man in the universe. He has fashioned a handheld device to twist open portals to an infinity of parallel universes. In the infinity of timelines every possible Rick or Morty does or does not exist. Regardless where his portals lead him, Rick's wave function rarely collapses from uncertainty. He is impatient and unsparing. "There is no God, Summer." Rick coaches his granddaughter. "You gotta rip that bandaid off now. You'll thank me later." Rick invents a miniature robot with artificial intelligence to pass him the table butter. "What is my purpose?" the robot asks. "You pass butter," Rick says. "Oh, my God," the robot slumps in despair. When alien parasites attempt to populate the earth by assuming affable characters and implanting bogus fond memories of themselves in their human hosts, Rick must lock down the Smith house to stymie the confusing proliferation of invaders. "Dad, why does our house have blast shields?" his daughter inquires in surprise. "Trust me, Beth. You don't want to know how many answers that question has." Landing on a planet to refill the windshield wipers on his space traveling car, Rick informs Morty. "It's a purge planet. They're peaceful. And then, you know, they just purge." Morty: "Tha… that's horrible!" Rick: "Yeah. You wanna check it out?" Some of Rick's inventions run off the rails with catastrophic results. A love potion he gives Morty to help him seal a romance triggers a storm of rabid suitors for Morty's attention and Rick's concoction to offset the love portion "Cronenberg's" the entire human species into mantid monsters that decapitate their mates. Rick and Morty escape into a parallel reality where everything is identical except that they are dead and must bury their own bodies in the Smith's yard in order to effect their seamless substitution of themselves. In a subsequent episode, Morty implores his sister not to run away from home. He points to the back yard from Summer's bedroom. "That out there? That's my grave. On one of our adventures, Rick and I basically destroyed the whole world. So we bailed on that reality and we came to this one because it wasn't destroyed. And in this one we were dead. So we came here an… an… and we buried ourselves. And we took their place. And every morning, Summer, I eat breakfast twenty yards from my own rotting corpse!" "So you're not my brother?" "I'm better than your brother. I'm a version of your brother you can trust when he says 'don't run'. Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everyone is gonna die. Come watch TV." The animated "Rick and Morty" series (2013), created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, was introduced on the Adult Swim network (a prodigious cradle of invention for humorists working in video media). Roiland provides the voices of the title characters. The featured voice actors are Sarah Chalke, Chris Parnell, Kari Wahlgren, and Spencer Grammer, supported by a multiverse of regular voices and an impressive roster of guest voices including David Cross, Stephen Colbert, Tom Kenny, Keith David, Alan Tudyk, Ice-T, Dana Carvey, and others. Ryan Elder composed all the music, kicking off with a pulsating "Rick and Morty" theme reminiscent of "Doctor Who" that throbs like an accelerating heartbeat. Writers and story board artists drive the concepts and dialogue: Ryan Ridley, Tom Kauffman, Wade Randolph, Eric Acosta, and others too numerous to list. "Rick and Morty" is a teeming comic thicket that bristles with sharp stabs at family values, formal education, sexual mores, species chauvinism, conventional science fiction tropes, and Panglossian optimism. Is this the best of all possible worlds? Holy crap! Let's hope not. Let's party! The pilot episode concludes with Rick's fervid lubricated rant: "It's just Rick and Morty. Rick and Morty and their adventures, Morty. Rick and Morty forever and forever a hundred years Rick and Morty. Some… things… me and Rick and Morty running' around and… Rick and Morty time… A- all day long forever… All a- a hundred days Rick and Morty! Forever a hundred times…"

amazing! gotta love R&M

Incredible show. An mix of Futurama, Family Guy and Community, that is more than the sum of its parts. Perfect banter, inventive high-concept sci-fi plots, thought-provoking existential horror, incredible art, exacting attention to detail, and no idea where this roller coaster will take you next. First season has one or two mediocre episodes (the Pilot is the worst in the series), but also some of its best (Love Potion #9 takes the series to new heights). The only reason I have given this four stars is because the second season is, in my opinion, the perfect gold standard.

Instant classic is stunning in 1080p!

El paquete aunque tardó en entregarse un día estuvo bien empacado con bolsas de protección. Recomendable. La serie es de lo más fresco que ha salido en esta década, se convirtió en un éxito inmediato y en una serie de culto. Morty acompaña a su abuelo Rick en aventuras interdimensionales y a través del universo, mientras que en su hogar se desarrolla un drama familiar entre su hermana Summer y sus padres Jerry y Beth. El DVD incluye comentarios de Matt Groening (Los Simpsons y Futurama), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Al Jean (Los Simpsons y The Critic), entre otros. También incluye el panfleto de The Good Morty del episodio Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind. Nota: el DVD es Región 1, pero se puede reproducir en casi cualquier computadora, sólo necesitas bajar el reproductor VLC.

Excelente calidad de imagen y sonido. Subtítulos en Inglés. Material adicional y detrás de cámara. Esperando que tengan la segunda temporada para comprarla!

For anyone wondering this appears to be a USA blu ray but it works fine on my UK blu ray player. Rick and Morty is currently my favourite TV show and this looks to be the only way to own it properly in HD bluray. I probably don't need to tell you how fantastic the show is if you're reading this. The video quality on this disk is fantastic and it's great to watch the show in 1080p. The extras and in particular the directors commentary are very very funny on this disk and I highly recommend watching every episode with the commentary on if you're a real fan like me and looking for a new way to experience the episodes. The making of section is also very funny and well worth watching. Overall this is a great way to watch a truly great TV series.

Rick and Morty ist für mich ein Überraschungshit. Ich wusste um den enormen Hype der Serie, den ich zunächst gar nicht nachvollziehen konnte. Schon allein der Zeichenstil hatte mich abgeschreckt. Und von den Cartoon/Comedy-Serien gefällt mir zurzeit wenn überhaupt nur noch South Park (Anime lasse ich hier mal Außen vor *Hust! One Punch Man!*). Jedoch hatte die Serie alsbald auch meinen Freundeskreis erreicht- Leute die meinen Geschmack punktgenau kennen haben mich immer wieder bearbeitet damit ich Rick and Morty eine Chance gebe. Letztendlich gab ich dem wohlwollend gemeinten Gruppenzwang nach und gab mir die ersten paar Folgen am Stück. Und ja… Der Rest ist Geschichte. Ich bin ein R&M-Fanboy geworden. Mein Schicksal hat sich erfüllt wenn man so will. Diese Serie ist für mich ungelogen die witzigste, cleverste und kreativste ihrer Art seit einer verdammt langen Zeit. Sie ist überaus zynisch, bissig, stellenweise so vulgär wie South Park und ebenso gory. Aber bei all ihrem zynisch/fiesen Charakter hat sie auch überraschend viel Herz. Apropos Herz- das Herzstück der Serie sind zweifelsohne die fantastisch geschriebenen Charaktere. Egal ob nun die beiden Haupt-Protagonisten Rick Sanchez und Enkel Morty Smith, welche ein genial ungleiches Gespann abgeben (wobei Morty aus Opa Rick`s Sicht eher nur den unbedeutenden Sidekick mimen darf), oder Morty`s Eltern Beth und Jerry, und Schwester Summer- sie alle sind witzige und überraschend facettenreiche Figuren. Hinzu kommen kultige Nebenfiguren und Alienrassen, Running Gags, grandiose Dialoge und Parallelwelten die so genial und crazy sind dass man sich fragt was Dan Harmon und sein Team wohl alles eingeworfen haben während sie die einzelnen Folgen erarbeitet hatten. Rick & Morty persifliert zudem viele Serien und Filme aus der Popkultur- verwebt aber auch tatsächliche wissenschaftliche Theorien und Erkenntnisse mit den verrückten Geschichten- was die Serie aus meiner Sicht nur noch cooler macht. Hinzu kommt eine extreme, serienübergreifende Detailverliebtheit die ich bspw. in anderen Vertretern wie den Simpsons schon immer vermisst habe. Das meine ich nun nicht unbedingt aus zeichnerischer Sicht, sondern eher was die verschiedenen Handlungsstränge, Hintergrund-Stories und die Serien-Kontinuität betrifft (wobei zahllose kleine Easter Eggs und Meta-Gags in nahezu jeder Episode zu finden sind). Was mich aber auch begeistert hat sind tatsächlich vorhandene Story-Arcs die sich über mehrere Staffeln hinweg aufbauen. Jede Handlung hat Konsequenzen. Zwar gibt es überwiegend Stand-Alone-Folgen die eine in sich abgeschlossene Geschichte erzählen. Allerdings wird der Status Quo am Ende einer Folge nicht wieder hergestellt. Rick und co. beziehen sich auch oft auf vergangene Abenteuer. Und so kommt es oft zu überaus genialen Wendungen! Das von mir anfänglich eher ungeliebte Charakterdesign ist mir im Verlauf der Serie ans Herz gewachsen. Hinzu kommt das die Animationen der Serie grandios sind und von Staffel zu Staffel besser werden. Wirklich top notch! Der Soundtrack überzeugt auch auf ganzer Linie. Es gibt einige verdammt kultverdächtige Lieder (Schwifty und so…). Ich sehne das Soundtrack-Album schon herbei! Auch muss ich eine Lanze für die Deutsche Synchro brechen, die mir sehr gut gefällt. Ich habe die Serie jetzt dreimal gesehen. Davon einmal im O-Ton. Beide sind in meinen Augen gleichwertig. O-Ton-Puristen mögen das anders sehen. Aber per se zu sagen die Deutsche Vertonung sei schlecht ist meiner Meinung nach ungerecht. Fazit: Es dürfte klar sein dass ich einfach eine uneingeschränkte Empfehlung aussprechen muss! Zweiflern rate ich unbedingt in Rick and Morty reinzuschauen. Wer den Humor von South Park schätzt wird Rick and Morty bspw. lieben. Der Hype ist in meinen Augen mehr als gerechtfertigt. Ich sehne schon die vierte Staffel herbei! Und das tat ich selbst zur Blütezeit der Simpsons nie. Wer mal wieder so richtig Bock auf was genial-abgefahrenes hat und eine Serie sucht bei der man merkt das sich die Macher dahinter mega Gedanken drum gemacht und Herzblut reingesteckt haben, der MUSS sich Rick and Morty einfach geben! Eines eurer Ichs aus den unendlichen Parallelwelten wird dies ohnehin schon getan haben! Von daher- 10 Sterne und ein Plumbus für diese geniale Serie!