The Transporter

About The Transporter

The Transporter (French: Le Transporteur) is a Franco-American action / crime 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, which is to be released in 2009.

The film begins with Frank Martin (Statham), in his black BMW E38 735iL, alone in a parking garage, he proceeds to start his car and drive to the site of his deal. Martin arrives at a building as four armed, masked men emerge, carrying bags filled with money. The four men get into the car; however, Martin refuses to start the car because they have changed the deal, in which it was agreed that there would be only three men. The leader of the men threatens Martin, but due to Martin's car being coded, there is no other option but to shoot one of the men and push him out of the car. A lengthy car chase follows in which Martin's driving skill allows escape from the chasing police cars. At the end of the chase the men offer Martin more money to drive them further, but their offer is refused because "that was not the deal."

Frank is next seen at his home along the coast of Southern France, cleaning his car. His parole officer, Tarconi (Berléand), stops by to inquire if Martin knows anything about a police chase involving the same type car that he owns, that took place the previous day. Martin denies that he does and Tarconi leaves. Martin receives a call from a man who is "looking for a transporter", Martin agrees to meet. Martin meets the man in a bar, where he explains his three rules: