16 used & new from $4.23

See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available
To view this video download Flash Player

The Way Things Go

- (Actor), David Weiss (II) (Director), Peter Fischli (Director) Rated: NR (Not Rated) Format: DVD

61 customer reviews

Available from these sellers.

4 new from $36.99 12 used from $4.23

Watch Instantly with

Rent

Buy

The Way Things Go

$2.99

$10.99

Other Formats & Versions Amazon Price New from Used from

Blu-ray

"Please retry"

2-Disc Version

$15.59

$11.09

$9.99

DVD

"Please retry"

1-Disc Version

—

$113.53

$34.96

DVD

1-Disc Version

—

$36.99

$4.23

The Way Things Go

Available from these sellers.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Andy Goldsworthy

146

DVD
$11.98
David Weiss

8

Paperback
$19.00
Peter Fischli
DVD
$19.99
Jeremy Millar

1

Paperback
$14.40
Chuck Close

14

DVD
$29.95
Louise Bourgeois

10

DVD
$19.56

Special Features

None.

Product Details

Actors: -
Directors: David Weiss (II), Peter Fischli
Format: Color, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
DVD Release Date: March 19, 2002
Run Time: 30 minutes
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
ASIN: B00005UW7W
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,549 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #6171 in Movies & TV > DVD > Documentary

Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price?

Learn more about "The Way Things Go" on IMDb

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars

5 star		67%
4 star		21%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

See all 61 customer reviews

Share your thoughts with other customers

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Fichelli and Wiess’ finest moment, so far.

By W. B. Abbott on November 8, 2013

Format: DVD Verified Purchase

Probably the most demanded “Play It Again!” film of all time. It has its own Wikipedia page, and the Honda Cog ad that was a homage to it was found to violate Fichelli and Wiess’ copyright of the image of tires bumping into each other and rolling uphill….See "Cog" too, but see the original first. Repeatedly. With a child, age 5-105…

"The Way Things Go" is a 30 minute film of a building-size Rube Goldberg or Mousetrap Game-like machine made out junk, tires, ladders, common chemicals, a pair of old shoes, things that burn easily, candles, rope, string, bowling balls, second-hand kitchen utensils, soap, ink, hand-tools, pipes, boards, plywood, tables, pallets, boxes, trash-bags, and odds and ends that appear to be at home in the abandoned factory it seems to have been filmed in. There are a lot of other things as well but no sense in spoiling the fun.

The action starts directly, with a dark, plastic bag, seemingly filled with trash, unwinding on the rope it is suspended by. As it undwinds, it descends, slowly. At some point, it knocks into something else, and we're off! This causes a third item to be released, which is delayed, but eventually bumps into the fourth bit. The movement continues, left to right, with the camera pacing along with at the front edge of the transition from prepared, loaded, cocked, standing-up, organized stuff to knocked over, burned up, scattered, fallen over, poured out, disorganized, stuff. It is, in short the march of entropy, inflicted on a chain of improbable constructions and cunningly made objects, each of which triggers the relaxation, disillusion, demise, dilution, dissolving, consumption or destruction of the next, but not before the impulse is passed along.Read more ›

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

A great video of a Rube Goldberg inspired art event!

By Michael J. Schmidt on June 7, 2015

Format: DVD Verified Purchase

This is a video of a very interesting & fun type of art project. It is a video of what is essentially a Rube Goldberg invention as it goes through various steps to go from beginning to end. (A Rube Goldberg machine is a fanciful device that goes through dozens of complicated steps to perform some very simple task - the professor lifts a spoon to his mouth, which pulls a string that tosses a cracker to a parrot, the parrot..... etc. till a napkin wipes the professor's mouth for him.) I've watched this many times and I never fail to be amazed & amused by the whimsical nature of this particular "machine".

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Fascinating

By KRiS on February 19, 2015

Format: DVD Verified Purchase

Ordered this for my classroom after seeing it as a student teacher. Kept third graders occupied for 45 minutes while learning about Rube Goldburg Machines. It's a bit slow moving for younger kids but the fire and explosions kept even some first graders' attention.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

I shall never look at an old pair of shoes the same...

By cookieman108 on March 28, 2005

Format: DVD Verified Purchase

The Way Things Go (1987) aka Der Lauf Der Dinge (perhaps loosely translated from German meaning The Laughing Dingo...okay, maybe not...the German I learned in high school didn't take very well) is an odd and wonderful film that I think would be well served shown in the various science and art classes one often has to take during ones stint in receiving a basic education.

In an old warehouse, artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss, who must have pillaged a local junkyard, create an extensively elaborate set up involving tires, chairs, rocket tea kettles, spray bottles, sugar cubes, old shoes, wooden ramps, small carts, garbage bags, balloons, fireworks, pools of liquid (sometimes flammable), gelatinous goo, along with other common, household items, with a result that I can only describe as a wondrous adventure in `planned chaos'. I used to do a similar thing with dominoes, spend hours lining hundreds of them up, only to watch them all fall within a matter of minutes, but this is so much more. Fischli and Weiss use all forms of matter, fire, water, and gravity to effect the forward motion (illustrated by transformations, propagation, reactions, and kinetics) of contraptions and such, resulting in constantly evolving concept of one thing leading to another, or, to put it another way, an artistic representation of cause and effect. I say it would be useful to show this in school science classes, as it's an implicit demonstration and display of the laws of thermodynamics, and presents the material in such a way that one may forget they're actually learning something, being mesmerized by the events occurring on the screen.Read more ›

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Five Stars

By Andy R on December 14, 2014

Format: DVD Verified Purchase

excellent product. exactly as advertised and arrived very promptly

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Five Stars

By L. M. Mcclure on April 6, 2015

Format: DVD Verified Purchase

My grandson and I love this.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

63 of 65 people found the following review helpful

Young children love it but it is for all ages

By ChristineMM TOP 1000 REVIEWER on September 6, 2002

Format: VHS Tape Verified Purchase

The video is approximately 30 minutes of non-stop motion showing cause-and-effect. The background is an old factory and there is no music score or narration, just the real sounds of the fire lighting, of things dropping down and rolling, etc. A very active imagination (or imaginations) thought up the ideas of what would roll, drop, ignite, etc. to make the next thing happen. The recording is a bit amateur and sometimes the lighting is a bit dim, but the content is so fantastic and real but it doesn't matter to our family because we love it.
My family began watching this when our youngest was nearing two years old and my oldest was four: both were glued to the screen. My husband and I enjoy it as well. Our four-year-old was so inspired he wanted to create a similar and large set-up (with fire and everything) in our home! I was able to convince my son that we could not do a large set up with fire, etc. so while I was busy makign dinner, on his own he made a chain-of-events set-up out of wooden unit blocks and wooden cylinders, and toys that would roll. He called me to see his demonstration and then we had discussions about ideas of what would work, tried them and then brainstormed other ideas when it did not work. I was surprised at the creative thinking this video inspired in my four-year-old.
I am just amazed at the creativity and imagination at work in this video and that such a huge project was set up and obviously practiced many times to ensure that it would work as it was being filmed.
This is entertainment and education rolled into one. This is a welcome change for children to watch from the usual children's video programs that are available (although it is for people of all ages).

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

See all 61 customer reviews (newest first)

Write a customer review

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

thank you

Published 11 days ago by Regula H. Robnett

Five Stars

Cd is in excellent condition.

Published 15 days ago by Guenter W. Essliner

Five Stars

A+

Published 1 month ago by William E. Rourke

Work of Rube Goldberg Art

Genius, inspirational creation. I showed it to my friend's kids ( aged 11 and 8} they loved it too.

Published 1 month ago by Joe D'Augustine

Review of NEWLY REMASTERED 2015 BluRay Release - A live Rube Goldberg...

Even though the Bluray I’m reviewing is not being released until April 28, 2015 (I was provided with a copy for review), there are already 55 reviews posted. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Steve Ramm

Restored- Dual format DVD AND Blu-ray - great, i want

This new edition is of a restored version of THE WAY THINGS GO by Fischli and Weiss is a Blu-ray AND DVD combo pack - two discs. Read more

Published 5 months ago by First

VERY STRANGE! I SUPPOSEDLY BOUGHT THIS IN 2008? ...

VERY STRANGE! I SUPPOSEDLY BOUGHT THIS IN 2008? I NEVER HEARD OF IT.

Published 7 months ago by LIBRARY GIRL

5th grade students and they have all really enjoyed it. Good place to...

Must have for any science program in almost any school setting. I have played this to kindergartner, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th grade students and they have all really enjoyed it. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Beezlebubba

A classic and always fun to watch

A classic and always fun to watch. Love getting it from Amazon Prime - arrived in two days, as promised.

Published 12 months ago by Amazon Addict

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }