The Transporter
The Transporter 1
The Transporter (French: Le Transporteur) is a Franco-American action / crime / driving movie directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen. Luc Besson was inspired by BMW Films’ “The Hire” series to create this movie. It was released in France on October 2, 2002 and in the United States on October 11, 2002. The Transporter stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin and Shu Qi as Lai Kwai. This is the first film in the series; it is followed by Transporter 2 and Transporter 3.
Frank Martin is hired to deliver a package to an American gangster known only as “Wall Street”. Breaking one of his rules, Frank opens the package, it is revealed to be a young woman tied up and gagged, by the name of Lai. Initially, Frank simply delivers the package, however when “Wall Street” attempts to kill Frank, Frank returns to the delivery site. Frank injures many of “Wall Street”‘s henchmen and takes Lai back to his house, where she explains that there is a large container full of people. Frank succeeds in an attempt to retrieve a truck full of immigrants.
Frank is aided by a French Police inspector named Tarconi. Initially, Tarconi is assigned to investigate the path of destruction that Frank is leaving but ends up aiding in the recovery of the containers full of human slaves. Incidentally, although two slave containers are identified, Frank only recovers one at the end of the film.
Transporter 2
Transporter 2 is a 2005 French action / crime / driving film directed by Louis Leterrier and produced by Luc Besson. It is the sequel to 2002′s The Transporter. It is itself followed by Transporter 3.
Jason Statham returns as Frank Martin, a professional “transporter” who delivers packages without questions. Set in Miami, Florida, he chauffeurs a young boy who is soon kidnapped. This causes Frank to attempt to save him.
Frank Martin (Jason Statham) has relocated from southern France, to Miami, Florida, where he is driving for the wealthy Billings family, headed by Jefferson Billings (Matthew Modine). Frank has unexpectedly bonded with the Billings’ son, Jack (Hunter Clary), whom he drives to and from elementary school in his new Audi A8 (W12 6.0). Frank is also preparing for the arrival of Inspector Tarconi (François Berléand), his detective friend from France, who has come to spend his holiday in Florida with Frank.
Frank takes Jack to a doctor’s checkup, only to be ambushed by a gang of ruthless criminals dressed as doctors who are attempting to inject Jack with a deadly virus. A lengthy fight erupts between the armed female villain Lola (Kate Nauta) and the unarmed Frank; nevertheless, Frank is able to escape with Jack. Frank drives back to Jack’s house, but Lola arrives and forces her way into his car at gunpoint. Frank then drives Lola and Jack away from oncoming police units in a long chase sequence.
They arrive at a warehouse occupied by a gang led by Gianni (Alessandro Gassman), the Italian antagonist and ringleader of the operation. Frank is forced to leave Jack at the hands of Gianni and his gang. However, Jack is returned to his family after the payment of a ranson, but unknown to them and Frank, Jack has been infected with a deadly virus that will eventually kill anyone that comes into contact with it “within a span of 48 hours”.
Frank decides to take matters into his own hands and finds one of the fake doctors that kidnapped Jack and pretends to infect the Russian henchman, Dimitri (Jason Flemyng), with the same virus (was actually water in that syringe). Dimitri panics and hurries to his lab to get the cure, but Frank follows him and takes the antidote from him. After disposing of Dimitri, Frank faces the doctor in charge of the lab. The doctor hurls the only two vials containing the antidote out of the window and Frank quickly jumps to catch them. He lands on a car and catches one, only to find it broken. He saves the other vial from being run over by a truck. Frank sneaks back into The Billings’ home and explains his innocence to Audrey (Amber Valletta), the only one who trusts him. Jack is cured, but he had already breathed on his mother and his father, who is the director of National Drug Control Policy. Jack’s father is taking part of a major conference which brings together the heads of many anti-drug organizations from around the world. Frank learns that, through Jack’s infected father, a Colombian drug cartel wishes to infect and kill all of the conference attendees so that the cartel’s cocaine-smuggling business can operate without interference.
Frank drives to the henchman-garrisoned house of Gianni, who has already injected himself with the remaining supply of antidote to hide it from capture. Following a fight in the garage and another one in which he uses a firehose to fight off the villains, Frank finds Gianni and holds him at gunpoint, but Lola shows up. Leaving Lola to deal with Frank, Gianni flees the scene. A final, yet brief, fight ensues between the both of them with Frank emerging as the victor, and Lola killed.
Frank then follows Gianni, who is making an escape in his helicopter to a waiting jet at the airport. Using a Lamborghini from Gianni’s garage, Frank speeds to the airport and boards Gianni’s jet by driving onto the runway and climbing onto the jet’s nose gear, leaving the Lamborghini to collide with a sign at the end of the runway. The explosion damages the aircraft’s landing gear. Frank gets into the interior of the plane through the open wheel well. When the copilot comes to investigate the damaged landing gear, Frank breaks his neck, then he quickly confronts Gianni, who pulls a gun on him. Frank thwarts his attempt to fire the weapon, and they begin wrestling for the gun. Gianni is able to take a shot at Frank, who narrowly dodges the bullet. The round hits the pilot and the plane eventually crashes into the ocean.
Gianni tries to strangle Frank, but Frank manages to break Gianni’s spine with his elbow, rendering Gianni immobile but still alive. Frank then pushes his captive and himself out of the sinking plane. On the ocean’s surface, police teams arrive. The Billings have been given the antidote, and Frank goes to visit them in the hospital. Before entering their room, he sees them with Jack, who is joking with them, and he silently walks back to his car where Tarconi is waiting. He drops his friend at the airport. Alone, Frank is about to drive away when he receives a call from a man who needs a transporter.
Transporter 3
Transporter 3 is a 2008 action film, and is the third installment in the Transporter film series, as well as the first not to be distributed by 20th Century Fox in the United States. Both Jason Statham and François Berléand reprised their roles, as Frank Martin and Tarconi, respectively. This is the first film in the series to be directed by Olivier Megaton. The film continues the story of Frank Martin, a professional “transporter” who has returned to France to continue his low-key business of delivering packages without questions.
Frank Martin (Jason Statham) and Inspector Tarconi (François Berléand) enjoy a boring day of fishing in the ocean. They are at the spot that Tarconi used to fish with his father, and is surprised that they havent had any bites yet. Eventually, Tarconi gets a bite and Frank gets all excited, telling him to fight for the fish. Elsewhere, Malcolm gets to another police checkpoint and shows his papers to a cop. However, the cop tells Malcolm to get out of the car and bring his papers inside so that they can inspect it. He also tells him that the woman in the back needs to come inside as well. Malcolm looks nervous, and then he winds up speeding past the checkpoint. The cops chase Malcolm through the streets, but wind up crashing into a van. Tarconi, after losing the fish, gets the call about the chase and is surprised that Frank was not the driver. He tells Frank that hes going to have to cut their fishing day short, and they depart just as Frank gets a bite. At the airport, Johnson (Robert Knepper) and his men arrive in a private jet. When asked what his purpose is in the country, Johnson says that hes there for environmental protection. During this time we see Minister Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbe) talking with reporters about his plan to help save the environment. Vasilev goes into his office and finds a confidential envelope waiting on his desk. The envelope starts to ring, and he finds a cell phone inside. Johnson is on the other end of the line, and is watching Vasilev from across the street. Johnson works for a company that Vasilev refused to do business with, since they would cause harm to the environment. Johnson has been hired to convince him to reconsider, and tells him to look at the picture inside the envelope. Vasilev is shocked by what he sees, and Johnson tells him that he will be in contact with him.
At night, Frank fell asleep while watching a fishing documentry on TV at his home. When he woke up, he heard distant tires screeching nearby. Suddenly, a car crashes into his house. The driver was Malcolm, and he is severly injured from the crash impact and a bullet wound. Just as Frank recognizes him, a flashback occurs to a few weeks ago, when he was approached for a job. Frank declined, and instead gave the man Malcolm’s contact number. The man however was adamant that Frank took the job. However when Frank tried to leave, he became surrounded by henchmen. After their attempt to make Frank reconsider failed, but they were heavily beaten up by Frank. Back to the present, Frank phoned an ambulance to get help for Malcolm, who refused to get out of the car. Frank sees that he has a metal device strapped around his wrist, and the paramedics show up. Malcolm, weak, tries to tell them something about the car but the paramedics load him into the ambulance and started to drive away. Frank inspected the car and then sees Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) in the backseat asleep. After waking her, he tries to get her to get out of the car so that he can help her, but she shows him that she is too wearing the same metal device as Malcolm. Frank realizes that something is wrong and chased after the ambulance. However after a certain distance, the ambulance exploded killing everyone inside. Feeling sore, he goes back into his house but is unexpectectly knocked out by someone.
When Frank woke up, he found himself alone in a room wearing nothing but his underwear and a metal device smiliar to Malcom’s around his wrist. He finds a suit in the closet and puts it on. Johnson walks in and says that he would like to hire him for a job, since Malcolm was incapable of completeting it. Frank mentioned that he is currently unavailable. After becoming annoyed with a henchman, Johnson shoots him in the forehead and then points the gun at Frank. He tells him that he has three seconds to either accept the job or he will be shot dead. Frank reluctantly agree to take the job but under the condition that he drives his own car. Johnson had a feeling that he would want his car, and so he leads Frank to a garage. Johnson has had his men take out all the weapons from the car,installed his own GPS and gave the car a tune up. He also gives him a wad of cash for gas, food. Inaddition to that, Frank also recieved a cellphone that could only call Johnson. He also mentions that the metal device around his wrist is a bomb, and if he gets more than 75 feet away from the car, it will instantly explode. He will be released after completing the mission. Frank was about to get in the car when he sees Valentina is sitting in the passenger seat. He says that he works alone, but says agree otherwise when Johnson wanted to kill her. Frank got into the car and drove off. Meanwhile, Tarconi arrives at Frank’s house and wondered what happened there. He has his men set up a crime scene, and a cop tows away Malcolm’s car. However, the tow truck is blocked off by a car and the cop is shot through the windshield. The gunmen remove the GPS from Malcolms car and drove off.
After getting through a police checkpoint, Frank calls Johnson and he tells him to punch in a code for the GPS. The next location he will have to go is Budapest. Frank repeatedly tries to get Valentina to talk to him about whats going on, but she refuses. Meanwhile, Tarconi has found the tow truck and the dead cop inside. He reviews video footage from the tow truck and sees who the gunmen were. He also sees their license plate, and has his cops try to find them. Frank drives off the chosen path and Johnson is made aware of it, since his men are tracking the car. Johnson sends some henchmen to persuade Frank to get back on course, but warns his men not to kill him since they need him. Frank drives to a garage owned by his friend Otto (Timo Dierkes), whos also a tech whiz. He shows Otto the bomb around his wrist, and asks him if he can remove it. Otto cant, and says that he knows the Pentagon has been working on something like it in secret. He says that theres a transmitter somewhere in the car, and then Johnsons goons show up. Frank orders Otto to search his car for the transmitter while the henchmen order Frank to get driving. They grab wrenches & poles, and attack Frank. As he beats his way through the men, Frank takes off his clothes and uses them as weapons. 
Eventually, he winds up shirtless and a giant henchman shows up. He throws Frank through a wall and beats him up. Frank tries to fight back, but his punches/kicks seem to hardly have any effect on him. The giant winds up getting stuck in the floor, and Frank bashes his head with a shovel. As Frank gets dressed, Valentina has obviously become attracted to him and helps straighten his tie. Otto finds the transmitter, but if he removes it the bombs will go off. Frank and Valentina drive away.
While Valentina takes a nap in the back, Frank calls Johnson and tells him that he wants to talk face-to-face. Johnson says that he will be at Budapest, and to wait for his call. Frank arrives in Budapest and then sees a nearby pay phone ringing. He exits the car to answer it, and Johnson says that hes been thinking about their arrangement. Hes starting to think that anyone with a drivers license can do the mission, and so in the vein of Donald Trump, he fires Frank. A henchman steals Franks car and drives away. Frank chases him on foot, desperate to remain within distance. Valentina wakes up and sees that the new driver is not Frank. She starts to fight with him, trying to get him to stop the car, as Frank steals a bicycle and rides through a factory. Eventually, the driver stops to take care of Valentina. Frank rides his bicycle through a window, jumps through the drivers window, and kicks him out. Frank then drives off with Valentina. Meanwhile, the men that hired Johnson meet with Vasilev and order him to sign their contract, which also includes allowing the ship from the beginning to enter port without question. Vasilev buys some time by requesting 24 hours to review the contract. Also, Frank contacts Tarconi and informs him of the situation at hand. Frank talks with Johnson again, and agrees to do the mission. The next location he has to go to is Bucharest. Tarconi and his cops were listening in on the call, and are doing their best to trace Johnsons location but its difficult since he keeps on moving.
Valentina says that shes hungry and describes what she wants to eat. She becomes more upbeat and puts on some make-up. When she does, she finds that she still has some drugs. She offers Frank a pill, but he refuses since hes more focused with driving. He tells her not to take the pills, but she does anyways. Valentina blasts some music and then says that she needs to pee. Frank pulls into a gas station and fills up the tank. Before Valentina goes inside, Frank reminds her not to go far from the car. Valentina goes inside the convenience store and pays for the gas. She eats some food and drinks some vodka in the back of the store. However, she is unable to get to the bathroom because its more than 75 feet from the car. Valentina resorts to pissing in the aisle while Frank becomes frustrated with her behavior. A car pulls up in front of the gas station, and a man gets out to piss on the side of the road. Frank gets suspicious and tells Valentina to get back in the car. She keeps on drinking the vodka and makes a scene at the gas pump. The guys in the car up ahead recognize Valentina and go into reverse. Frank throws the vodka away, shoves Valentina into the back, and speeds off. The other car tries to run Frank off the road, but fail. Frank calls Johnson and asks him why the car is chasing him. The guys in the other car are not Johnsons people, and so he tells Frank to drive faster while he figures out who they are. Two big trucks drive in both lanes on the road up ahead. Frank turns the car on its side and drives sideways between the trucks. He makes it past, and one of the trucks loses control. The other car chases Frank to a forest and fire at him with machine guns. Frank slams on the brakes just before the edge of a cliff. The other car drives over the cliff and explodes after falling.
Frank rests his head on the steering wheel, and Valentina massages him because hes so tense. She then kisses the back of his neck, and Frank asks her what she is doing. She says that if theyre going to die, she wants to have sex one last time. Frank declines and gets out of the car. He looks in the trunk and finds that the two bags are filled with phone books. He then realizes that Valentina is the package hes transporting. She steals his keys and playfully walks away from the car. She says that she was turned on watching him fight shirtless earlier, and she wants him to do a striptease. Frank reluctantly takes off his shirt, but Valentina then requests a kiss. He kisses her, but she wants a kiss like he means it. Frank passionately kisses her, and they continue to make out even after he gets his keys back. Meanwhile, Johnson calls Vasilev and is furious that he sent some men to try to thwart his plan. Johnson says that if he ever wants to see his daughter Valentina again, he’ll have to play ball and sign the contract. Vasilev reveals that he knows who Johnson is and says that he wants to talk to his daughter before signing the contract. Johnson tries to call Frank, but hes too busy having sex with Valentina in the car. Hes also at a loss because since Frank is in the forest, hes out of range for them to track him.
As Frank and Valentina overlook the valley, Valentina finally reveals what happened. She was at a nightclub partying with friends when someone gave her a drugged drink. She went to the bathroom and passed out. When she woke up, she was in the backseat of Malcolms car. She begged Malcolm to pull over and let her call her father. He did, even though it was against the rules. As she called her father, Johnsons henchmen showed up and chased them. They shot Malcolm in the back, and he told Valentina that he would make sure shes safe, which is why he crashed into Franks house. Frank and Valentina get back on the road, and Johnson calls them. He says that instead of going to Bucharest, hes going to take the next left and continue down the road. Valentina is afraid that they will kill Frank, but he tells her not to worry about it. Elsewhere, Tarconi visits Vasilev and works with him on getting his daughter back. Johnson calls and orders Vasilev to sign the contract, but he refuses until he hears Valentinas voice. He hangs up before Tarconi can trace his location. Frank winds up driving on a bridge, and becomes blocked on it (Johnson and his men are at both sides). Johnson orders Valentina to get out of the car and walk to him. Frank kisses her goodbye and tells her that he will be fine. Valentina walks over to Johnson, who removes her bomb, and spits in his face. Johnson punches her in the stomach and shoves her into a car. He then orders his men to kill Frank. They pump his car full of bullets, and Frank drives off the bridge into the water below. Johnson is satisfied, since hes dead either way (he stays, he drowns he leaves, he explodes).
Underwater, Frank calls Tarconi and tells him where he is. Tarconi and the cops are ten minutes away and tell Frank to hang on. As Frank begins to drown, he swims to the trunk and takes out the two bags from earlier. He uses the air from the tires to blow air into the bags, which allows him to breathe. He then ties the bags to the car, and the air causes the car to float to the surface. Tarconi and the cops arrive just in time to see Frank & his car being pulled out of the water by a tractor. Frank gets a new pair of clothes and works on his car to get it running again. Meanwhile, 
Johnson and his men arrive at a train station. He tells a henchman to buy tickets for the next train, since they need to keep moving. The henchman annoys Johnson and he almost kills him, but stops when he sees witnesses around. While on the train, Johnson calls Vasilev and lets him speak with Valentina. Tarconis cops are able to trace Johnsons location to the train. Franks car starts again, and he speeds off to save Valentina. Johnson says that he really hates violence, since it causes more problems than solutions, but sometimes its necessary to get what you want. Valentina then sees that Frank is driving alongside the train and smiles. Frank drives up ahead to a bridge and then drives off it, landing on top of the train. He jumps through a window and is fired upon by the henchmen. Johnson holds Valentina at gunpoint, but she bites his hand and runs off into the other cabs. Frank kicks a helmet at a goons face, grabs a machine gun, and kills all the henchmen. Johnson gets to Valentina again, and Frank runs after him. However, he is forced to stop due to being 75 feet from the car. Johnson dares Frank to takes one more step, but Frank runs away.
While Tarconi and the cops give chase to the train, they see Frank climb on top of the train and climb back into his car. Johnson separates the cabs so that Franks section drifts away from them. Frank manages to drive his car from the top of the train into the cab where Johnson and Valentina are. Frank then gets out and starts to fight Johnson. He tries to stab Frank with a knife, but Frank knocks it away and continues to beat him. Johnson lands on the car and Frank grabs the key to remove his bomb. He then ties Johnsons arm to the car, straps the bomb to his wrist, and puts the car in reverse. Johnson panics and gets his arm loose from the car before it falls off the train. He then realizes that he shouldve stayed with the car, since he becomes 75 feet from it. Johnson explodes, causing the train to come to a halt. Frank finds Valentina and kisses her. Tarconi rescues them and calls Vasilev, telling him that his daughter is safe. Vasilev rips up the contract, and the ship from the beginning is raided by the police. Some time later, we see Frank and Tarconi fishing again in the ocean. Tarconi notes that Frank is changing, and we see that Valentina is with them, sunbathing on the boat. The film ends with Valentina telling them what she wants to eat.
