Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 29, 2018

Have you ever had what you consider to be a fantastic idea for a movie or television series, only to have it pooh-poohed by those less “gifted” than you consider yourself to be? Don’t let those mediocre naysayers have the last word! If I may be permitted to steal a little slogan from a certain iconic sports aggregation based in my home state of Oregon that became popular: just do it. There are a couple of short but instructive featurettes included on this latest season of Rick and Morty that pretty much dramatize that very adage for anyone who thinks they don’t have the ability to succeed in the wild and wooly arena of show business, and in fact both of these brief “origin stories” (so to speak) capably show a bunch of guys basically just goofing off in front of the camera (or producing animation for the camera) in order to (as they themselves “confess”) make each other laugh. Out of such apparently humble beginnings Rick and Morty sprouted, resulting in this totally gonzo offering about a somewhat despicable but still lovably gruff grandpa named Rick (voiced by Justin Roiland) who repeatedly journeys to alternate universes and/or timelines with his sweet but level headed grandson Morty (also voiced by Justin Roiland). Rick and Morty has become one of the more popular shows in the Adult Swim programming gambit, and in fact it was just recently announced that a whole boatload (spaceship?) of new episodes have been commissioned that will unspool over an as yet unspecified number of future seasons. That said, some longtime fans of the series (including my two sons) evidently felt that this current season under review is just a bit less gonzo than the two previous seasons, which is not to suggest in any way, shape or form that there aren’t laughs a plenty to be had as Rick repeatedly refuses to abide by a sense of decency, let alone common sense.

For those wanting to catch up on the nutty adventures of the Smith Family and their grandpa Rick Sanchez, our reviews of the series' previous two seasons can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Rick and Morty: Season 1 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 2 Blu-ray review

There’s always been a kind of Inception-esque quality to Rick and Morty, at least if you can picture Leonardo di Caprio passed out in a pool of his own slobber a la some of Rick’s misbehavior, and that aspect is once again on display as the third season kicks into gear. Rick seems to be at a generic diner with the Smiths, except of course he isn’t, which leads to a typically gonzo season opener that sees a whole retinue of Ricks in a “citadel” where even committed fans of the series may be hard pressed to decide which Rick is the “real” one. The fact that this particular episode has a running gag based on a Szechuan sauce released by McDonald’s during the theatrical exhibition of Mulan is testament to the fact that Rick and Morty’s cultural references may be arcane but they are typically very funny.

Those cultural references include perhaps slightly more recognizable things (at times, at least) like Mad Max: Fury Road, but one of the strengths of this season is actually the interrelationships between the characters rather than “extracurricular” allusions. Perhaps surprisingly, some of the best material this season comes courtesy of not shenanigans involving Rick and Morty (though those are of course prevalent and frequently hilarious), but instead some adventures involving Rick and Jerry. One of the through lines of this season is Jerry giving Beth an ultimatum that ends up with Jerry being (at least temporarily) exiled from the family, though Rick kind of inadvertently helps to get things back to relative normalcy.

Rick and Morty trades on obviously abhorrent behavior for at least some of its comedy, but the show continues to surprise at times with how sweet it can actually be. Morty’s perhaps confusing quest to find a suitable male role model continues to inform several of the episodes this season, but what is comedically made clear is that the kids in this show can often be more sensible than any of the adults.

Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rick and Morty: Season 3 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Despite having almost comically low bitrates throughout the season, and a rather miserly use of space on the one disc that offers all episodes (and extras) for this season, I was actually pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of this presentation. I noticed no outright issues with anomalies like banding or posterization that would hint at too aggressive compression. As with previous seasons, the show's palette is one of its strongest features, and the wide variety of outlandish tones gives virtually every episode this season a lot of visual punch. Line detail is also consistently well defined. That said, this is arguably a little less precise looking than previous seasons, and there are a couple of moments of slight image instability that I noticed (or perceived) during some lateral pans.

Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rick and Morty: Season 3 features an effective Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track, one that tends to burst with energy during some of the more "science fiction"-y aspects of the show, while dialogue moments continue to be anchored front and center much of the time. The show's frenetic proclivities spill into the sound design at times, and some of the crazy antics of Rick, Morty "and the rest" along with a variety of bizarre aliens and other interlopers tend to offer some fairly noisy sounding vignettes at times, but prioritization tends to be well done, and there is typically good placement of sound effects in the surround channels.

Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Animatics

  The Rickshank Rickdemption (1080p; 22:58)

  Rickmancing the Stone (1080p; 22:39)

  Pickle Rick (1080p; 22:57)

  Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender (1080p; 23:05)

  The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy (1080p; 23:06)

  Rest and Ricklaxation (1080p; 22:52)

  The Ricklantis Mixup (1080p; 22:41)

  Morty's Mind Blowers (1080p; 22:19)

  The ABC's of Beth (1080p; 21:57)

  The Rickchurian Mortydate (1080p; 22:14)

• Inside the Recording Booth (1080p; 6:14) has some fun (and funny) behind the scenes footage.


• Rick and Morty Origins Part 1 (1080p; 4:55) has some enjoyable snippets of early efforts by the show's creative teams, as well as some background information.


• Rick and Morty Origins Part 2 (1080p; 4:38) continues apace with some more examples of more fully produced works and more interviews.


• Inside the Episodes offers short EPKs on each of the episodes in this season:

  The Rickshank Rickdemption (1080p; 2:37)

  Rickmancing the Stone (1080p; 2:33)

  Pickle Rick (1080p; 2:39)

  Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender (1080p; 2:04)

  The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy (1080p; 2:14)

  Rest and Ricklaxation (1080p; 1:59)

  The Ricklantis Mixup (1080p; 2:09)

  Morty's Mind Blowers (1080p; 1:48)

  The ABC's of Beth (1080p; 1:57)

  The Rickchurian Mortydate (1080p; 2:42)



• Commentaries

  The Rickshank Rickdemption: 1) Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Mike McMahan, Juan Meza-Leon, and John Mayer; 2) Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson

  Rickmancing the Stone: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Jordan Brock, Lance Wehrly

  Pickle Rick: 1) Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Jessica Gao, Anthony Chun; 2) Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Russell Brand; 3) David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Peter Dinklage

  Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Sarah Carbiener, Erica Rosbe, Mike McMahan

  The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy: Dan Harmon, Chris Parnell, Erica Hayes

  Rest and Ricklaxation: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Tom Kauffman, Karl Wahlgren

  The Ricklantis Mixup: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Dominic Polcino, Mike McMahan

  Morty's Mind Blowers: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, James Siciliano, Bryan Newton

  The ABC's of Beth: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Mike McMahan

  The Rickchurian Mortydate: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Wes Archer, Jeffrey Thompson

Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rick and Morty: Season 3 continues to be one of the more scabrous comedy enterprises on Adult Swim, and its well defined characters provide the same sort of outrageous humor that the series' previous two seasons offered. The show arguably is a little less consistent this season, but there is actually some good old fashioned heartfelt emotion that creeps through at times, which, considering Rick's tendency toward snark and bodily emissions of various types, is pretty amazing. Video is a little less inviting than on previous seasons, but not at anything I'd personally term problematic levels. Audio is great and the supplementary package very enjoyable. Recommended.