Knuckles
4K (2024/Sega/Paramount
4K Blu-ray Set)/Rick and
Morty: The Complete Seasons 1 - 7
(2013 - 2023/Adult Swim/Warner DVD Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: X/C+ Sound: B/C+ Extras:
C/C+ Main Programs: C+/B-
More
old favorites for children of ages are represented by these
releases...
Knuckles
4K
(2024) is the surprisingly good TV spin off of the highly successful
and solid Sonic
The Hedgehog
feature films, the first of which we covered in 4K at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15726/Bush:+Live+In+Tampa+(2019+w/Blu-ray*)/Inside
It
should also be noted that this is not the first TV series based on
the property, as our older coverage of the Sonic
Underground
series shows here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6399/Sonic+Underground+%E2%80%93+The+Series,+Vo
Well,
there is much more money and goings on in this variation, between the
second and third films in a series that might be going on a while,
with the title character (Idris Elba, really good here) who will
train the character Wade (Adam Pally) to be a warrior like him. This
scenario is played out somewhat in the fantasy and martial arts
genres, but the makers have the twist of the energy and pace of one
of the best video games probably ever created to date to combine it
with, thus its critical and commercial success.
Ben
Schwartz, Cary Elwes and Christopher Lloyd are among the well-picked
supporting cast and fans should be pretty pleased. This is being
dubbed a mini-series, which is fair enough, so don't expect any
'second season' in this case.
Extras
include a Cast Featurette, Gag Reel and featurettes Working
With Knuckles,
This
Or That?
and Knuckles
Impressions,
though note that these pieces are rather short.
Rick
and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1 - 7
(2013 - 2023) is the new, updated version of the still-hit TV series
that we have been covering for a very long time. On Blu-ray, we
covered the first six seasons, starting here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16334/Batman:+Mask+Of+The+Phantasm+4K+(1993/DC
Then
we got to the still-latest season here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16412/Anyone+But+You+(Sony+Blu-ray)/Baby+Assassins
Again,
I am not the biggest fan of the show, but it is still surviving the
weekly and yearly TV grind (probably by NOT coming out with new shows
every single year; some thought the show might fold at a few points)
so I can still see why fans are watching, yet a few might have
checked out. They undoubtedly gained some new fans along the way.
No 4K version has even been suggested, if even possible, while it
seems there will be no Blu-ray version of this seven-season
collection (the first time Warner may be skipping that for a while)
so it is for general fans versus those with advanced (4K, 1080p) home
theater systems.
An
exclusive new poster and print version of the episodes are the only
new extras to go with all the extras repeated from all the previous
season releases.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on all Knuckles
4K
episodes really surprised me for their high quality and consistence
worthy of the feature films and better than you would usually get for
a TV spin-off. Color, definition, detail and even some warmth really
work here and I've seen more than a few CGI or semi-CGI feature films
(including recently) not looking as good or as if they put the money
out for them like they seem to have here. The lossless Dolby
Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) mixes on all the
shows are also decent and solid throughout, making the combination
one of the best TV surprises of the whole year.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image and lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
sound on the Morty episodes are as good as they can be for the
format, but once you are used to the show on Blu-ray, they are much
harder to watch. These are also repeat pressings of what has already
been issued, so nothing radically new here in that respect either.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
