Transporter 3 (2008)
Transporter 3 is a 2008 French-American action-thriller film. It is the third and final installment in the original trilogy of the Transporter franchise. Both Jason Statham and François Berléand reprise their roles, as Frank Martin and Inspector Tarconi, respectively. The first film in the series to be directed by Olivier Megaton, it continues the story of Frank Martin, a professional “transporter” who has returned to France to continue his low-key business of delivering packages without question. It grossed over $109 million, making it the highest-grossing film in the trilogy.
Plot.
Frank Martin, having returned from Miami to the French Riviera, is unsuccessfully fishing with his friend, Inspector Tarconi when Tarconi receives a call about a black Audi A8 that has sped past French customs and evaded the police in a car chase. While Tarconi returns to headquarters to give Frank’s alibi, in Odessa, Ukraine, the Environmental Agency Minister, Leonid Tomilenko, receives a threat from Ecocorp boss Johnson to reopen business negotiations. At night, the Audi crashes into Frank’s home, with a wounded transporter, Malcolm Melville, whom Frank had referred when he declined a previous job. As paramedics take away Malcolm, Frank discovers a woman in the back seat of the Audi who warns him not to take her from the car – she shows him a metal bracelet she and Malcolm have been wearing which explodes if it gets too far from the vehicle.
Frank rushes outside, but the ambulance, getting out of range, explodes and kills Malcolm. Frank is then knocked out by one of Johnson’s henchmen.
Johnson places an explosive bracelet on Frank, forcing him to take a package and the woman, Valentina, to Budapest. Tomilenko negotiates to postpone signing Ecocorp’s agreement that would allow the ship with the chemicals into his country. While Tarconi researches into Johnson’s motivations, Frank goes off-course, visiting a garage to try to deal with the bracelet, but as he fends off Johnson’s men, his mechanic friend Otto cannot disarm the device on the car. In Budapest, Johnson tells Frank that he’s fired. One of Johnson’s men steals the Audi with Valentina inside, leaving Frank to chase him down by bicycle and retrieve them both.
Release.
Unlike its predecessors, Transporter 3 was released by Lionsgate Films instead of 20th Century Fox in the United States. On its opening weekend, the film opened at number 7 with $12 million. The film grossed $31.7 million in the United States and in Canada and $77.3 million in other countries, for a total gross of $109 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the Transporter trilogy. Transporter 3 was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 10, 2009 in the United States. 1,108,030 units were sold, bringing in $19.7 million in revenue. Icon Films picked up the rights to distribute the film in the UK and Australia.Cast:
- Jason StathamasFrank Martin
- Natalya Rudakova as Valentina Tomilenko
- François Berléandas Inspector Tarconi
- Robert Knepperas Jonas Johnson
- Jeroen Krabbéas Leonid Tomilenko
- Alex Kobold as Leonid’s Aide
- Katia Tchenkoas Leonid’s Secretary
- David Atrakchias Malcom Manville
- Yann Sundbergas Flag
- Eriq Ebouaneyas Ice
- David Kammenos as Driver Market
- Silvio Simacas Mighty Joe
- Oscar Relier as Thug / Driver
- Timo Dierkes as Otto
- Igor Koumpan as Ukrainian cop
- Paul Barrett as Captain
- Elef Zack as Mate
- Michel Neugarten as Assassin Driver – Sergei
- Farid Elquardi as Yuri
- Semmy Schiltas the Giant