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 Hireseries.

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 ofTransporter 2andTransporter 3. A television series has also been announced.

Frank Martin ( Jason Statham ) is a highly skilled driver known only as "The Transporter." The titular 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.

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. The gangs are later caught by the police.

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 finds the package is really a woman. 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" tied to a chair on the back seat. Later when he gets to his house he puts noodles in the microwave, and unties the package. The next day, local police Inspector Tarconi ( François Berléand ) 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 two shipping containers 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. the Inspector agrees to abet Frank's escape as his faux hostage. Frank then 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.

It is then revealed that Lai's father is in on the trafficking scheme. Later, Frank opts to pursue Wall Street by hitching a ride on an airplane (while holding the pilot at gunpoint). Frank later jumps out of the plane in a parachute onto a series of trucks which are holding the traffickees. After a short melee fight with Wall Street (who is thrown out of the truck on the highway), Frank pulls the truck over safely. Lai's father meanwhile, has discovered Frank and tries to kill him by shooting him in front of a cliff. Lai ironically comes up behind along with Tarconi and the French police force and shoots her father just before Frank is about to take Lai's father's bullet. The film ends with only one of the two containers of hostages being freed and Frank and Lai reuniting happily.