Even if you're not a fan of the Urusei Yatsura series (and while I like it, I can't rate it among my favorite anime), this movie is worth a look. Utilizing a far-out science fiction story and adding dashes of standard UY humor, Beautiful Dreamer is by far the most coherent, original, and absorbing of the Urusei Yatsura movies. Director Mamoru Oshii is more renowned for Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell, but this film stacks up well against them. A familiarity with the characters is essential, as the story and interactions play heavily upon their personalities (the DVD supplies a basic background, but one won't find here much beyond that -- for a better overview, check out Tomobiki-cho). The story begins the day before the annual Tombiki High School festival, and Ataru and his friends are busy setting up shop and getting embroiled in standard hijinks (read: Lum gives Ataru some shock treatment, and Onsen-Mark finds himself hanging on the wrong end of a tank cannon). Only problem is, they've done this before ... and before ... and before ...
Deja vu is one thing, but as resident doctor (and mystic) Sakura discovers, everyone has been living the same day over and over without realizing it. It would be a shame to reveal more of the plot, but the movie has some genuinely eerie and surreal moments which wouldn't be out of place on The X-Files; a tight, inventive screenplay which reveals new nuances with repeated viewings; and finally, an over-the-top climax which ranks among Urusei Yatsura's finest moments, as Ataru finds himself getting bounced between twisted dreams, with hilarious results.
The film cleverly capitalizes on Urusei Yatsura's timeless qualities -- after all, nothing ever changes, Ataru is always stuck with Lum, no one leaves or gets married, etc. In the movie, notions of frozen time, dreams, and reality are pushed to the limit, with sometimes frightening and sometimes beautiful consequences. And miraculously enough, it is Ataru's real affection for Lum, something which too often is glossed over in the television series, which saves the day. Next to Only You, Beautiful Dreamer ultimately stands as the most romantic Urusei Yatsura movie -- without giving too much away, Lum's love for her "darling" begins the adventure, and it is Ataru's own idiosyncratic kind of "love" which ends it. Memorable scenes abound, especially a jaw-dropping sequence involving the town of Tombiki and a turtle's back (better seen than explained), and although the characters are a bit more restrained this time around (a welcome change for this reviewer), they still retain their individualistic quirks. As thought-provoking entertainment, you can't do much better than this movie -- certainly a surprise considering the non-stop slapstick laughs of the television series. This one is worth watching a few times -- to see how skillfully it's constructed, if nothing else.As one would expect from a 1984 movie based on a TV show, the animation and character designs are a bit dated, but more than adequate. Apart from the short character guide, the DVD lacks extras. Language options include English and Japanese tracks, and English subtitles -- the English language track should be avoided if humanly possible
For trivia on this film, check out the Unofficial Liner Notes.