Starring Jason Statham, Francois Berleand, Shu Qi, Matt Schulze
Written By: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
Directed By: Cory Yuen
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Buy on Amazon.com link

I didn’t like the Transporter the first time I saw it. Thought the music was dumb, didn’t fit the movie and just didn’t like the movie overall. Though, that changed when I gave the film a second chance and kept watching it on cable. Now I think it’s a fun action flick, and this DVD comes out just in time for the the sequel to hit theaters.

The Transporter is about Frank Martin (Jason Statham), who transports illegal goods, things, items, whatever. Frank has a bunch of rules for his job, and one of them is that no questions are asked. Well, one day Frank happens to break one of his rules, which is ‘open the package.’ What’s inside is a beautiful Asian girl kidnapped by slave traders in a big bag. Man, how come I can’t find that!? Frank gets involved with the girl’s situation and decides to help her out. He really has no choice since the guy’s tried to kill him. He has to put his rules and reputation on the line to help save himself, the girl and others. That’s when the big bad Jason Statham gets into his shirtless karate mode and does some butt-kicking, rocket-dodging and some nifty moves with his little BMW.

The first time seeing this, I didn’t like the movie and thought it was dumb. I was probably just in a pissy mood like usual. I also didn’t like the music and thought it sucked. Felt out of place, and didn’t go with the scenes…still feel that way. But after watching the movie several times on HBO, I’ve grown to like it more and more because it’s just an entertaining action movie. I knew Jason Statham was leading man material since his first movie, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He’s got that football hooligan look, a cool voice, he’s funny, and he’s a handsome fella. I’m a straight man and can admit that ok! But back to the movie, the car scenes and fight sequences are amazingly choreographed and just a blast to watch. You can tell that it took a lot of time to practice them and to actually film it. The fight scenes were almost like dance moves, it went along to the music, in some cases. But I guess I’d rather take hip hop over that Limp Bizkit nu-metal shit you hear in all the trailers. I would have liked to have seen more driving stunts in this movie because it seemed like the fight, kung fu scenes were done more. But I still haven’t seen the sequel so I’m sure there is more car stunts in that one.

The main reason for watching this movie, is for the action scenes. Period. You’re not going to get Oscar-caliber acting here folks! Even though Jason Statham plays Frank Martin charismatically and adds a sense of style to the character. From seeing him in the a nice suit, he could be a good front runner for the next James Bond but why go for Bond when you have a similar character in Frank Martin? The sequel is already out and did well at the box office, maybe another Transporter is already in the works. I just like a lot of movies that take place in Europe, which in this case, is France. The locations are beautiful, especially that house he was in living…damn. But I guess when you’re in an illegal/legal business as a transporter, you can afford nice little houses on the river in France. The least the man can do is go out for some damn milk every once and awhile since the milk man comes delivering it all the time. Not too much else to say about this movie, really, it’s fun and action packed.

This DVD seems like it was just made as a marketing tool for the sequel, but there’s some decent extras on here. I watched the behind the scenes documentary, which for the most part, was translated in English since the majority of the crew was speaking francais. Oui Oui monsieur. You see first hand how hard Jason Statham and the crew worked on the fight scenes. Plus there’s over 15 minutes of extended fight sequences that was cool to watch as well! There’s a few other extras to check out on the DVD as well but I never got around to watching them. The Transporter Special Delivery Edition DVD is worth purchasing if you don’t own the movie already, plus I think it’s cheaper than the other version.

Features:
All New Behind-the-Scenes Documentary
Storyboard/Film Comparison
Extended Fight Sequences (w/optional comm. By Jason Statham, Steve Chasman and Cory Yuen)
Full-Length Audio Commentary by Actor Jason Statham and Producer Steven Chasman
Sneak Peek at the Making of Transporter 2

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
ENGLISH: DTS 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Surround
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Surround

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish

Favorite Scenes: opening scene, getting revenge for his car being blown up, all the fight & car scenes
Rating: NR
Running Time: 92 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: