Mary Norton’s “The Borrowers” book series has been adapted for TV and film several times over the past 73 years.

10-year-old Pete Lender (Bradley Pierce) has noticed that things in his home are constantly going missing, but his parents, Joe and Victoria (Aden Gillett and Doon Mackichan), think he’s imagining things. To prove his theory, Pete sets a trap, and discovers that a tiny girl named Arrietty Clock (Flora Newbigin) is living in the walls of the home. She and her family—father Pod (Jim Broadbent), mother Homily (Celia Imrie) and little brother Peagreen (Tom Felton)—are what are known as “borrowers”, tiny folk who live in the walls of homes and borrow items from the humans (aka “beans”) who live there.

The Lenders are about to lose their home. It was left to them by Victoria’s late aunt Mary Alabaster, but no written will stating such could be found. Now her crooked lawyer Ocious P. Potter (John Goodman) plans to tear down the house and replace it with a lucrative apartment building. Pete convinces the Clock family to relocate with them to their new home, but during the move Arrietty and Peagreen get separated. And when they return to the old house, the borrowers discover that Mr. Potter is aware of Alabaster’s will, which is hidden in the wall, and he plans to find and destroy it. But when Arrietty manages to snatch the will, Mr. Potter hires Exterminator Jeff (Mark Williams) to take care of the infestation problem, and it quickly becomes a game of cat and mouse.

Meanwhile, Pete and Arrietty’s parents try to make their way back to the old home to rescue Arrietty and Peagreen; local police officer Officer Steady (Hugh Laurie) grows suspicious of Mr. Potter and his motives; and Arrietty meets an “outie” Borrower Spiller (Raymond Pickard), who offers to help her navigate this new world she’s never experienced before.

The Borrowers has a nice blend of fantasy, adventure and comedy. When we first meet Pete, he’s building a Rube Goldberg machine, and so he’s already a kindred spirit to the Borrowers before he even meets them. These little folks also take random things and repurpose them to become tools they weren’t originally meant to be. Pod is protective of his family, always warning them of the dangers of the outside world, and constantly reminding daughter Arrietty that “a borrower must never ever be seen”. However, she is starting to get bored with life in the house, and is in search of adventure, always trying to push the limits and taking risks. And soon she ends up accidentally making contact with Pete, but it turns out this “bean” is actually friendly and doesn’t want to squish them like her father feared.

The film really kicks into slapstick high gear once Ocious P. Potter and Exterminator Jeff get into the picture. As Potter keeps getting injured while trying to take out the borrowers, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Home Alone, or the film Mouse Hunt, which was also released in 1997 with similar physical humor elements/themes. The cast here is great, and I enjoyed the humor with Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams as the more sensible ones to John Goodman’s over the top and out-of-control Mr. Potter, who’s desperate to get rid of these tiny invaders. I also found it amusing that the film stars a pre-Harry Potter Tom Felton, and there were several scenes with characters calling “Mr. Potter” in his presence.

The Borrowers is a fun film that can be enjoyed by the entire family. The special effects still hold up quite well almost 30 years later, making these tiny characters blend into the real world and feel like they are really interacting with the humans.

The Borrowers has arrived on Blu-ray for the first time from Alliance Home Entertainment. For much of the first act, the picture is quite dark with a deep red tone to it. I wasn’t sure if this was by design or just this Blu-ray, but I compared it with a digital version and it looks the same, so it looks like this is the aesthetic they wanted. Besides this, the picture looks generally quite clean and good throughout, and the effects blend in naturally rather than sticking out as obvious. The audio track provides clean dialogue and immersive feel, especially in the more action-packed sequences.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase, with a Retro VHS slipcover that makes the release look like a classic VHS rental tape. The details on these slipcovers are really fun, and the design even extends to the spine as well, allowing these discs to displayed like a collection of VHS tapes on your shelf. There is no digital copy included, and the disc does not include any bonus materials. Previous DVD releases had contained some behind-the-scenes footage and trailers, but unfortunately none of that has been ported over to this new Blu-ray release.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:27:00)

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

There is no bonus material included.
(The previous DVD releases included trailers and some behind-the-scenes material but none of that has been ported to this release.)

Final Thoughts:

The 1997 film The Borrowers is a fun adaptation of the original novels with a great cast and effects that still hold up. It has an entertaining blend of action, fantasy and physical humor, and does a nice job of developing the characters and making you understand and care about their plights. Alliance’s presentation looks and sounds solid. I didn’t really care for the darker, red look of the first act, but it appears that this is just how the film is, and not a deficiency of the disc presentation. Unfortunately the disc is barebones, and does not port over any bonus material that appeared on previous DVD releases. This new release also includes a fun Alliance Home Entertainment (formerly Mill Creek Entertainment) retro VHS slipcover. The Borrowers is a fun film the whole family can enjoy, and is worth checking out.