Who doesn't love the intricacy of Rube Goldberg machines? A celebration of the most mechanical, complex and absurd way of performing an everyday task, there's nothing quite like watching a cuckoo clock set off a bowling ball that rolls into a pie pan which lifts up some guy's pants before he gets arrested for exposure-again. And combined with the over-the-top designs of Hollywood movies, these gadgets of pure imagination find their most welcome (and plausible) home.
So in celebration, here are the top 10 Rube Goldberg machines in movies, listed in handy clips for your viewing pleasure. Warning: the best Rube Goldberg machines are not always found in the best movies.
10. Robots
Not bad, though CGI sort of equals cheating.
9. Edward Scissorhands
Tiny puppet robots FTW!
8. The Money Pit
A sort of revision on the Rube Golberg machine.
7. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty vs. Kit, which wins?
6. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
This sequence was amazing, and done in claymation.
5. Goonies
I always identified with the fat kid.
4. Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Pee Wee had it great before that "incident."
3. Back to the Future
Great mechanical sequence, great film opening.
2. Ernest Goes to Jail
Never in my life did I think I'd post seriously about an Ernest movie.
1. The Way Thing Go
There's a reason this is the number one clip.
List compiled by Richard Blakeley & Nick McGlynn.