The Transporter

The Transporter (French: Le Transporteur) is a 2002 French action film directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen and written by Luc Besson, who was inspired by BMW Films' The Hire series.

The film stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin, a driver for hire – a mercenary "transporter" who will deliver anything, anywhere – no questions asked – for the right price. It also stars Shu Qi as Lai Kwai.

It is the first film in a series also consisting of Transporter 2 and Transporter 3. A television series premiered in 2012 on October 11 in Germany on RTL and on December 6 in France on M6.

Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is a highly skilled driver known only as "The Transporter." He will transport anything, no questions asked, always on time, and he is known as the best in the business. He strictly follows three rules when transporting: Rule #1: "Never change the deal", Rule #2: "No names", and Rule #3: "Never open the package."

Frank has been hired to transport some robbers from a bank heist. On delivery to their destination, they foist new money on Frank to drive further from the city. He refuses the deal. The robbers escape in another car, and Frank leaves.

Frank returns to his villa, local police Inspector Tarconi (François Berléand) arrives to question Frank about the robbery. However Tarconi has no concrete proof about the heist and leaves his villa.

Frank is then hired to deliver a package to an American gangster, Bettencourt (Matt Schulze). While changing a flat tire on the road in France, he notices that something is moving in the package. During the way, he opens the package and finds a bound and gagged woman. She manages to escape but he recaptures her and disables two policemen who catch them. He delivers the package as promised.

Bettencourt asks Frank to transport a briefcase. Frank accepts the job. On the way, he stops at a gas station to rest but the briefcase turns out to be a bomb that destroys Frank's car. Frank snaps and returns to Bettencourt's residence with a vengeance, dispatching several of his henchmen and then stealing a car to get away, only to find "the package" tied to a chair in the back seat.

Later on, he returns to his house, and unties the package who tells him that her name is Lai. The next day, Tarconi arrives and asks about Frank's car. Lai now says she is Frank's new girlfriend and supports Frank's alibi. Tarconi leaves with no proof again. However, shortly after he leaves, missiles rain down on Frank's house, and Frank and Lai are barely able to escape the house, as it completely explodes.

At the police station, being questioned, Lai manages to sneak onto Tarconi's computer to access information on Bettencourt. Lai tells Frank that Bettencourt is trafficking two shipping containers full of Chinese people including her family, and is planning to sell them into slavery. Lai and Frank go to Betencourt's office and he reveals that Lai's father is the man responsible for the human trafficking. When Tarconi arrives at the office, Lai's father accuse Frank of kidnapping Lai. Tarconi has Frank arrested and locked up in the station.

At the station,Tarconi agrees to abet Frank's escape as his faux hostage. Frank then tracks the criminals to the docks, where they load the containers onto trucks. However, Frank is spotted and is forced to fight his way through the guards, failing to stop the trucks. He then steals a small airplane and parachutes onto one of the trucks. After getting out of the truck, Frank is then ambushed by Lai's father. However, Frank is saved when Lai shoots her own father. Afterwards, Tarconi arrives with the police and they rescue the people trapped inside the container.