Blu-ray Review: Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6

Today sees the release of Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6, a box set that collects every episode up to this point (and by extension, all the episodes featuring original producer and voice actor Justin Roiland). The box set, out from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, packages the existing six seasons of individual Rick and Morty Blu-rays, including all their extant bonus features, but carries nothing new with it except for exclusive packaging and, in the case of the first printing of the discs, a poster. So…how does all that stack up?

Rick and Morty has always been kind of middle-of-the-pack when it comes to home video bonus features. It’s definitely not the bare bones that so many modern TV shows come packed with, but a lot of the featurettes tend to be pretty surface level and not especially revelatory for the show’s dedicated fandom, many of whom will already have seen the creators talking at conventions and in interviews. Nevertheless, this box set manages to keep a slim profile (each season is just one disc) and still not give up any of the bonus features that came packed with the original “complete season” box sets.

The audio and video quality has been reliably good in these sets, and nothing takes a dip just because they’re being packaged together. Both are crisp, the DTS sound is clear and the mix always remembers that the show is both sci-fi and comedy — meaning both the weird audio effects and the jokes are un-muddied.

As far as the show itself? Well, you know Rick and Morty by now. Or at least,  you know Rick and Morty if you are seriously entertaining the idea of buying a six-season box set — list price $129.99, although you can get it for $40 less than that at Amazon, and an extra $20 less if you want to downgrade to standard def and grab a DVD. In any event, it’s a show that’s one of the can’t-miss animated series of its generation, and depending on your mileage it likely has between two and six completely indispensable seasons. 

But really, in terms of reviewing the package, what we’re really looking at is…the package.

The cover art for the cardboard sleeve features Rick and Morty transformed into a couch and chair, respectively, and looking none-too-happy about it. It’s a funny, striking image, but it’s a curious one for a six-season box set. One would have thought a more iconic image of the pair (or even the full cast) would have been used, with this version maybe showing up as the season six cover. 

That critique carries over to the cover of the actual Blu-ray set itself.. Removing it from the sleeve, the image is just the face of Mr. Frundles on a yellow field. To the uninitiated, you could pretty easily mistake it for a SpongeBob Blu-ray at a distance. The spine of the case is pink, with Mr. Frundles’s little red arm nub, so its a good idea to keep this one in its sleeve when it’s on the shelf.  

On that note, the exclusive poster that comes with the box set is also Mr. Frundles — and also just his facial features on a yellow field. The 18″x24″ poster is basically just yellow, with Mr. Frundles in the bottom right corner. It’s a cool design, and if you’re a superfan of the show, you’d probably love it as much as I love the decision to put Beebo on the front of the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow complete series box. But it’s still a curious call, given that with no other new bonus features, Warners is trying to sell this $100 box set primarily to casual fans who haven’t already bought the six individual sets. It isn’t even a complete series set, which is all-but-certain to come out when the show is over (assuming somebody hasn’t decided to split it up into two so they can have a clean break from Roiland).

With no digital codes in the box set (not that those have come in the last couple of seasons either), this is very much for the dedicated physical media collector. Getting up over $100 for a box set that doesn’t include digital codes is probably a bit high at this point, but it’s a bargain compared to picking each of the six seasons up separately (they range between $20 and $30 on Amazon right now).

All in all, it’s a nice set to have, in the sense that it’s all six current seasons of the show in one box, with a great transfer, some engaging bonus material, and unique art rather than just recycling the season 1 box like so many other shows might do in the same situation. It’s difficult to justify if you already have the previous sets, because it lacks anything new except a couple pieces of art, none of which are so compelling that they feel like absolute must-haves.

It’s likely big fans will pick this up out of completism and convenience. It’s also plausible a number of fans who haven’t previously bought the discs, will jump on board with this because of the recent physical media renaissance — which is primarily fueled by consumer dissatisfaction with streaming services, their prices, and the frequently-rotating catalogues. 

Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Bonus Features: 3.5/5
Presentation: 3/5

Overall: 4/5. 

The bottom line: Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6 isn’t necessarily for everyone, but it’s a convenient and comprehensive way to own one of the best animated series of the last decade.