Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Rick and Morty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 17, 2020

Rick and Morty gets off to a raucous start in its fourth season with a very funny episode which sees a number of recurring tropes in the series being visited yet again, albeit to often hilarious effect. There are once again “rules” in place for Rick and Morty, rules which are of course instantly relaxed if not outright forgotten, Rick once again meets his fate (this time at the hands of Morty), leading to a chaotic slew of clones appearing as Rick attempts to “re-form” (fans know Rick would never “reform” in the traditional sense of that word), Morty chasing an imagined future with his dream girl Jessica, and everything seeming to be right on the verge of what William Butler Yeats, whom I’m absolutely positive would have been a Rick and Morty fan had he been alive in our time period (that's a joke, folks), described as the center not holding. If some of the subsequent episodes don’t always as consistently mine the often snarky humor that has informed the series as the opening episode does, the show continues to provide regular laughs while also providing some surprising “character beats”, especially for a gonzo animated outing that involves a curmudgeonly mad scientist (that would be Rick) and his often dunderheaded grandson (that would be Morty).

For reviews of the three previous seasons of Rick and Morty, please click on the following links:

Rick and Morty: Season 1 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 2 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray review

In wending my way through various supplements that were included on some of the Red vs. Blue: RVBX: Ten Years of Red vs. Blue and RWBY: Volumes 1-6 discs, I mentioned in some of those reviews how Rooster Teeth Productions seemed to be a really cool place to work. The first supplement listed below in this review in particular would suggest that the working environment at Rick and Morty is similarly fun, if often stressful, especially as several of the artisans employed to produce the show mention how they’re currently trying to wrap up the fourth season while getting the already announced fifth season underway. But there’s a sweet camaraderie on display in even this relatively short supplement that, to me anyway, overtly spills over into the frequently lunatic but just as often surprisingly sweet elements offered in any given episode of Rick and Morty.

What other series (animated or otherwise) can you think of that could weave an episode out of a character’s need to have a “private pooping space”, melding that kind of understandable if iffy subject matter with a more universal desire for friendship? In this case the “private pooper” is none other than Rick, who (of course) has an alien world set up for the sole purpose of “evacuation” (if you catch my drift), only to discover someone else has been using it when he’s not there. That sets him off on a mad quest to find the culprit, which in turn leads to yet another series of interconnected plot strands, including one that sees the interloper experiencing a Matrix -like alternate reality “dream”.

Some episodes expectedly struck me as funnier than others. Even Dan Harmon questions the wisdom of basing entire episodes around his hatred of heist movies, or the prevalence of people falling into vats of acid in films from the eighties, and I'd say those outings are perhaps less consistently hilarious than some others, notably one where the duo find themselves "stuck" in an anthology television series, and another where it's disclosed that Beth has a clone, or perhaps vice versa (actually one of the comedic points of the episode). At its best Rick and Morty continues to delight, at least for those who don't mind the more than occasional un-PC aspect. Even when it's not firing on all cylinders, the series is quite often slyly amusing.

Rick and Morty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rick and Morty: Season 4 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Despite Warner's perhaps debatable decision to once again feature all of the season's episodes plus (admittedly not huge amounts of) bonus material on one disc, this season looks surprisingly spry throughout. Line detail is consistently sharp and well defined, and once again the series' absolute riot of colors, especially in its more fantastical moments, is very impressive. There's a repeated use of purples and teals this season, both of which can pop with considerable energy. The show continues to be almost like a drug fueled carnival ride (not that there's anything wrong with that), and this high definition presentation provides a lot of color and detail within an unabashedly surreal context.

Rick and Morty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rick and Morty continues to offer a fun and immersive listening experience on this latest season with a well rendered Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. The many scenes featuring the star duo traveling to worlds hither and yon offer a lot of opportunity for surround effects, but there are some surprisingly subtle elements in the sound design at times, as in the discrete placement of a kind of "tinkly" sound when Rick is stowing some priceless crystals in the trunk of his UFO in one episode. Several of the episodes this season have large crowd scenes where there's an agreeable spill of dialogue and background clamor into the side and rear channels. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Rick and Morty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Day at Rick and Morty: Inside Season 4 (1080p; 9:11) is a really fun behind the scenes peek at the staff of the show.


• Creating Snake Jazz (1080p; 2:30) looks at one of the weirder "musical" elements of one episode.


• Directing Rick and Morty (1080p; 2:55) features brief interviews with some of the directors and other creative staff.


• Samurai & Shogun (1080p; 5:24) is a weird short in Japanese featuring ninjas or something like that.


• Prop Process (1080p; 2:48) gets into the animation design efforts for props.


• Character Creation (1080p; 2:36) features several character designers talking about their craft.


• Animation Challenges (1080p; 2:30) looks at some of the hurdles the animators face.


• Inside the Episode features shorts devoted to each episode, typically featuring some very brief interviews with various production cast and crew:

  Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat (1080p; 1:23)

  
  

  The Old Man and the Seat (1080p; 1:24)

  
  

  One Crew Over the Crewcoo's Morty (1080p; 1:22)

  
  

  Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty (1080p; 1:24)

  
  

  Rattlestar Ricklactica (1080p; 1:23)

  
  

  Never Ricking Morty (1080p; 1:39)

  
  

  Promortyus (1080p; 1:47)

  
  

  The Vat of Acid Episode (1080p; 2:13)

  
  

  Childrick of Mort (1080p; 2:04)

  
  

  Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri (1080p; 2:07)

Rick and Morty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm in the Pacific Northwest, which is currently reeling not just from Covid-19 but also the pretty insane amount of smoke in the air due to all the wildfires which has made going outside all but impossible, and so many of us here are prone to be suffering from "cabin fever" and a need for escape. Rick and Morty provided me with that very escape courtesy of some really solid guffaws this season as the show continues to mine its more than slightly surreal approach to what often amounts to the depiction of a dysfunctional family relationship. This season has several standout episodes, and the guest voice cast is often astounding, offering everyone from Elon Musk to Kathleen Turner. Technical merits continue to be solid, and the supplementary package is very enjoyable. Highly recommended.