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.

The film was released in France on October 2, 2002 and in the United States on October 11, 2002. It is the first film in a series also consisting of Transporter 2 and Transporter 3.

Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is a highly regarded, highly skilled driver known only as "The Transporter." The title character is a former Special Forces officer who, disillusioned with his former leadership, now lives on the French Mediterranean Coastline with a lucrative second career. He will transport anything, no questions asked, from Point A to Point B.

He operates by a set of rules:

1. Never change the deal.
2. No names.
3. Never open the package.
4. Never make a promise you can't keep.

Frank has been hired to transport "Three men, 254 kilos." When not three but four men get into his car, fresh from a bank heist, Frank refuses to move, stating, "The deal's the deal," holding fast to Rule #1. After one gang member is killed by the others, Frank leaves with the remaining robbers. On delivery to their destination, they foist new money on Frank to drive further. He refuses, again adhering to Rule #1.
Frank is then hired to deliver a package to an American gangster (Matt Schulze) known only as "Wall Street." While changing a flat tire on the way to Wall Street, he breaks one of his rules and opens the package that was placed into the trunk at Point A. He delivers the package as promised to Point B, but it seems that nothing is ever quite easy for Frank. The rules are designed to make things easier. One should never break the rules. As he leaves, Wall Street hires Frank to transport a briefcase; the briefcase turns out to be a bomb that destroys Frank's car at a roadside stop but leaves him largely unharmed.
Frank returns to Wall Street's residence with a vengeance, dispatching several of his henchmen and then stealing a car to get away, only to find "the package" inside. The next day, local police Inspector Tarconi turns up at Frank's door. The Inspector makes the usual inquires, producing a scorched license plate. The Inspector leaves and things quiet down. Then missiles hit the house.

Later, the beautiful young woman we now know as Lai, sneaks into police records on the Inspector's computer to find the man who abducted her. She tells Frank that the man (Wall Street) is trafficking a shipping container full of Chinese people including her own father and family, with no plans to let any of them live. Lai and Frank go to Wall Street's office to find the shipping docket identifying the container but are discovered by Wall Street and nearly killed when an associate of Wall Street arrives with henchmen. The henchmen are knocking Frank out and stop short of killing him when the Inspector arrives to investigate the man whose face Lai left up on his display. The Inspector arrests Frank to save him from Wall Street's henchmen.

At the police station, Frank does his best to explain the situation to the Inspector and then manages an escape as the police look on helplessly. The Inspector knows that Frank is ex-military. And the Inspector is an ex-little-boy who wouldn't mind believing in a hero now and then. Frank commandeers a watercraft and other means of transport in search of the containers and Lai, with stunts and displays of martial arts along the way.