Rick and Morty: Season 8 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Rick and Morty: Season 8 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 9, 2025

Identity issues have always been at the forefront of Rick and Morty, if only because there have been so many variant versions of featured characters throughout the series' long run. There may indeed be those selfsame (pun intended) alternate versions of various characters in abundance in this eighth season, but in a rather interesting way, the "identity issues" faced in this group of episodes are rather unique. With the epochal events (or at least event) that were/was of, well, prime interest in the seventh season kinda sorta in the rear view mirror, Rick in particular becomes a vastly different man than he's been in previous seasons. Sure, he's still crotchety as all get out, he indulges in virtually nonstop questionable behavior (and language), and he may not have completely escaped the burden of memory, but for any fans of the series who haven't yet seen the eighth year, some unexpected character developments will most likely be in store.

Our reviews of the previous seasons of Rick and Morty can be accessed via the following links (the first season was reviewed by Ken Brown, all subsequent seasons have been reviewed by yours truly):

Rick and Morty: Season 1 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 2 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 4 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 5 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 6 Blu-ray review

Rick and Morty: Season 7 Blu-ray review

One of the strengths, if also one of the hurdles, of this series is how incredibly layered and intentionally "meta" so much of the content is. In some ways, things are at least intermittently more emotionally focused in this season, with an emphasis on Rick trying to (re?)establish actual authentic connections with his family. That might seem to be at odds with the setup of the very first episode, which after a bit of confounding initial narrative reveals that the ever petulant Rick and trapped Morty and Summer in a Matrix-esque environment as punishment for borrowing Rick's phone charger without permission. Though they're only "inside" for a few minutes (according to external time), they actually experience living decades in the artificial world (bringing to mind the fantastic Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 5 episode The Inner Light). That redounds to both ostensible pluses (Summer, newly "mature" due to her experiences, establishes a whole new relationship with Beth) and negatives (Morty experienced being an incarcerated criminal and traumatized soldier).

If the relationship between mother and daughter is reexamined in this season's first episode, recurrently throughout this season Rick's relationship(s) with Beth(s) becomes of (sorry) prime importance. The writing here is often whip smart, still manifesting Rick's snarkiness even when he's doing something unexpected like actually coming to Beth's rescue. If what might be jokingly referred to as Remembrance of Things Past has repeatedly informed this series, especially with regard to Rick's troubled history, that particular situation may be even more salient in this season, as Rick has to ultimately decide what the best way forward is with regard to his memories of Diane.

Rick and Morty continues to indulge in the requisite "meta" offerings (Ricker than Fiction probably is the best example, though virtually every episode can offer multiple meta moments), but this is one of the more "grounded" seasons the show has offered. The changes afoot may tend to alienate some longtime lovers of the show who probably delighted in how unabashedly awful Rick was, but those more tolerant of a bit of humanizing (?) may find a lot to like here.

Rick and Morty: Season 8 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rick and Morty: Season 8 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (a few "in jokes" offer alternate aspect ratios as documented in screenshot 14 accompanying this review). This is another colorful season that offers a number of psychedelic touches throughout virtually every episode. The palette therefore is one of the most memorable things about this season, as it often has been in previous years, with some of the pastel adjacent tones in particular looking really nuanced. Character designs for some of the "special guest aliens" and the like are frequently intentionally outlandish. Line detail is typically excellent. No compression issues were noted.

Rick and Morty: Season 8 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Following in what has been a generally very commendable tradition, Rick and Morty: Season 8 offers a consistently immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. As with many previous seasons, surround activity is extremely noticeable in any of the many flying scenes, but also in the many chaotic vignettes offering several characters in the frame simultaneously (not necessarily limited to mere humans or even humanoids). As I've mentioned in some reviews of previous seasons, I actually highly recommend checking out the German language option (albeit in Dolby Digital 5.1), as the series becomes even more surreal listening to it that way. Dialogue in all languages is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional subtitles in several languages are available.

Rick and Morty: Season 8 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Inside Season 8 (HD; 9:05) offers Dan Harmon and other crew members offering an overview. This obviously doesn't have the specificity of the episode-centric supplements on Blu-rays of previous seasons, but it's okay if not overly revelatory on its own merits.

The keepcase sleeve offers an inner print with the titular pair in a spaceship and a list of episode titles. Packaging features a slipbox.

Rick and Morty: Season 8 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A lot of fans evidently felt the seventh season was a bit of a letdown, something that may or may not had to do with the "backstage drama" involving Justin Roiland. That said, those experiencing disappointment might have to perhaps grudgingly admit that season provided a pretty devastating "conclusion" to at least one aspect of this story's multilayered, multidimensional labyrinth. The attempt to at least slightly reinvent Rick in this season may be met with more befuddlement by some, but I've personally been continually impressed by how the writing team continually tries to find new avenues to explore. The series continues to be both laugh out loud funny and really rather thought provoking, often at the same time, and if there are some undeniable (slight in my estimation) misses this year, the overall season has unexpected emotional depth and resonance. Technical merits are solid, and even though there's only one brief supplement this time, Rick and Morty: Season 8 comes Recommended.