[Hobby] The Movie That Changed My Life: "The Transporter" | Audi | Movie | My Car | [Imported Car]

Hello everyone!
This is Yukikaze, the guy who always orders a "medium orange juice" at the movie theater.

Now then,
have you ever had a movie in your life that left the biggest impact on you"? To put it simply, it's like someone who was fascinated by "Star Wars" ending up working in the space industry, or someone watching Disney's "Aladdin" and becoming interested in life near Egypt and the country's history. It doesn't matter if it's not famous or if it's obscure. It's just something that "made an impact on your life."

For example,
in today's world, science has evolved dramatically, and "AI" is taking over some of our traditional jobs and task management. I actually incorporate AI into some of my own work, and honestly, it's a huge help, but seeing things like this makes me occasionally think that a world like the one depicted in "The Terminator," where humans and AI go to war in the near future, might not be so far off.

Of course,
the movie itself is completely fiction, literally a "world only on film," but if you were to replace this world with your own reality, it turns into people's "dreams" and "hopes," and "new discoveries," and eventually exerts some kind of "influence" on individuals.

The "Terminator" I mentioned earlier was also a dream story created by Hollywood at the time of its release, and people probably laughed at the idea that "artificial intelligence would surpass humans" as being fundamentally impossible. However, the people who were influenced by it, at least to some extent, are now in the process of making it a reality. Of course, it's not necessarily the case that AI was created thanks to The Terminator, but I believe that movies have that kind of "charm" and a "influence" that stimulates human "creativity." I believe that movies have that kind of "charm" and a "strong influence" that stimulates human "creativity."

I, for one,
am one of the people who was certainly influenced by it, and I decided to write this because I thought there might be parts of what I'm talking about this time that you could relate to.

Well, the introduction has been long, so let's get right into the main topic.
Let's get excited and fired up just like in a movie! 👍👍
(*Contains some spoilers!)

■ I first saw "Transporter 3" on "Friday Road Show"

As the title suggests, I'm writing this as a "movie that changed my life", but the first time I saw this movie when it was aired back then was not at a movie theater, but on the "TV at my parents' house." I knew about the existence of this movie from TV commercials, and the shopping mall with a movie theater was only about 10 minutes away by car, but I wasn't the type of person to go see movies, and I was watching DVDs that I rented for a few hundred yen from the now-defunct "TSUTAYA" by myself. To be honest, my mindset was, "Why go out of my way to pay high prices for a seat and food and drinks when I can just watch it alone at home while snacking on candy?" Therefore, I didn't end up going to see it in real-time when it was released.

Then time passed, and when I was a second-year high school student, I happened to be watching "Transporter 3" on "Friday Road Show," and I was literally captivated. I truly thought that the word "awesome" is used for times like this. To my embarrassment, I wasn't exactly a delinquent, but I was a "naughty boy" at the time, so the outlaw vibe of the "transporter" played by Jason Statham really hit home during my sensitive high school years. That was over 10 years ago, though, haha. Fighting more than 10 enemies alone and holding his own, the car chase with the pursuers, and the gunfight at the end. No matter what part it was, the only impressions I could come up with were "Cool!," "Amazing!," and "Crazy!," with zero vocabulary. But in the end, I've watched many movies up until this age, and the only movie that truly "touched my heart" in the real sense, both before and since, was this "Transporter".

■ The movie's protagonist, "Frank Martin," was just too awesome

☑️ Character profile

As you can tell from the title, this movie is the "third installment" of the Transporter series, following the previous two. Therefore, the actor cast is the same as the past works (it changes from the 4th movie onwards), but Jason Statham is really dapper and cool. "Frank Martin," played by him, is a man of few words who follows the three rules he made for himself

ルール① 契約厳守
ルール② 依頼品の中身は開けない
ルール③ 依頼人の名前は聞かない

and is a cool, sometimes ruthless person who carries out his job as a "transporter" flawlessly like a machine without showing any emotion. However, he also has a side that values the allies who help him behind the scenes even when working alone, so in a sense, he is a man with "humanity." Also, because he prioritizes delivering the requested item (cargo) from the client to the destination above all else, he sometimes takes somewhat forceful actions or is an accomplice to crimes. However, he clearly shows disgust for heinous acts like murder or taking hostages while working, and there are gentlemanly scenes where he "dares" to refuse a request. The fact that he flatly says "No!" to unpleasant requests left a deep impression on me, as I work in sales as a salaryman. It means you shouldn't just say "yes, yes" to everything a customer asks for. This is something I really must learn from.

☑️ Just strong and smart

Well, I think you understand well from the introduction so far that he is mentally strong, but he also shows the strongest performance in the work in terms of physicality. Seeing him fend off opponents with clearly larger builds than his own with "brilliant techniques" like judo, or fighting multiple opponents using various tools like a screwdriver, a shovel, his own necktie, or a belt, makes me feel like he is a true fighting man. After restraining the enemy character "Mr. Johnson," played by Robert Knepper, with an Audi seatbelt, putting the gear in R range and repelling him was like a "showy kill" rarely seen in recent movies, and I couldn't help but let out an "Oh...." I mean, if you write it in text, it's a pretty crazy way to fight, well, that's usual though, haha. It's not just his physicality, but his ability to make split-second decisions and his quick wit might be the secret to his strength.

☑️ The driving technique is especially crazy

The protagonist "Frank Martin" is too strong, but the part that really catches the eye is that "driving technique" where he freely controls the 5-meter-long, 2-ton Audi A8. I'll dig deeper and explain later, but when escaping from the "third party" enemy pursuers, he drives at 250 km/h on the Autobahn, and he shows driving that makes you want to retort, "Where on earth did you learn to drive like that! haha," such as intentionally tilting the car body by using the reaction of swinging it left and right to drive on two wheels. You could say it's a stunt drive typical of a car action movie. This movie is really good at showing off the car's performance. If you're shown something like that, anyone would want to buy an "Audi A8," haha! Such attractive driving technique is something that can't be done without fully understanding the car's characteristics, so it was a part where I felt again that "he is indeed smart."

■ The car in the movie, the "Audi A8," is super cool!

The appeal of car action movies is, above all else, the 'scenes where cars look cool'. There is an indescribable sense of exhilaration in the camera angles that chase cars dashing through the screen. In scenes that color the movie, just having a car in the background makes you excited, wondering, 'What will happen next?' It is, so to speak, synonymous with movies. And the synonym for this movie, 'The Transporter,' is none other than the 'Audi A8'.

The scene where it races down the Autobahn, with the unique revving sound of its W12 engine and the squealing tires from its large 6000cc displacement, is one of the 'highlights' of this movie. The pursuer's black Mercedes-Benz E-Class, not just with its speed but also with its gun action and aggressive driving to corner the target, felt like a great choice for a 'villain' that really enhances the story.

Now, this Audi A8 is based on the actual 2008 6.0 TFSI Quattro (W12) model. However, to drive it everywhere as a movie car (city streets, Autobahn, mountain roads, inside a lake←?), 'special modifications' were made, such as reinforcing the engine area and giving it a look like the 'S8' with silver mirrors. As a result of repeated extreme modifications during the movie production process, a 'monster' in A8 clothing was born.

Now, let's take a brief detour here to discuss the connection to 'Audi' in this 'Transporter' series. The reason the absolute image of 'Transporter' = 'Audi A8' was planted in viewers' minds is largely because the film director, Luc Besson, did not continue using the 'BMW 7 Series' after the very first Transporter. Although the lead actor in the first one is the same, Jason Statham, the car was unfortunately blown up in the middle of the story, and the 7 Series never appeared in the subsequent Transporter series. Moreover, it is a surprising fact that no matter how many times you watch the first one, there are no scenes where an 'Audi' appears, either as a main or background element. It is a deep mystery why they decided to 'use an Audi' as the face of the movie starting from the second one. Also, ironically, 'if' the BMW 7 Series had continued in 2 and 3, there is a high possibility that the car I am driving now would have been a 7 Series. That is how much 'influence this movie had on me'.

■ A scene from the movie and my thoughts

Back to the topic. From here on, I will share the content of the movie along with my thoughts on it.
(※Contains major spoilers! Please be aware of this in advance.)

【あらすじ】

'Frank, who silently carries out his professional 'delivery' jobs, is one day fitted with a bracelet that will automatically explode if he moves 20 meters away from his car. He is dragged into the worst mission against his will.'

✅ Prologue

The movie begins with a scene where two people who tried to steal something inside a large cargo ship die mysteriously. The two deceased are stuffed into bags and carelessly dumped into the sea, setting an ominous tone right from the start of the story. Meanwhile, at a lake in Marseille, Frank is seen fishing on a boat with his friend, Inspector Tarconi (played by François Berléand). It is rare and impressive to see him wearing a hat. He was enjoying his day off, but Inspector Tarconi receives a call on his mobile phone (it would be a smartphone today, but you can feel the era) saying, 'An Audi is speeding through the city. It's probably Frank.' Naturally, since Frank is right next to him fishing, he hears the conversation and dismisses it, saying, 'Don't look at me.' It's already funny at this point. Frank had just gotten his first bite of the day, but the inspector tries to return the boat to the shore to understand the details of the incident on the phone. It is surreal and funny to see Frank, who is usually calm, panicking and saying, 'Wait! This is the best bite of the day, please!' lol.

✅ Encounter

The scene changes, and Frank was enjoying dinner with the fish he successfully caught, but to his surprise! The Audi that was speeding during the day crashed through the wall and entered his house. If he hadn't happened to move away from his seat to get the TV remote, he would have been run over. I remember being startled by the loud noise when I saw this scene for the first time. Malcolm, a former colleague, was in the car and said he came to ask Frank for help. I was curious about the 'strange bracelet' on his arm, but I decided that caring for his serious injuries was the priority, so I called an ambulance and handed him over. Just as I felt relieved, it turned out there was another person in the car, a 'mysterious beauty' named Valentina (played by Natalya Rudakova) who was also wearing the same bracelet, and she wakes up and asks Frank a question.

(ヴァレンティーナ)『ここって天国？』
(フランク)『むしろ地獄だろうな』

After that exchange, she tells Frank, 'This bracelet is a 'death ornament' that will explode if I move 20 meters away from the car. It's for your own good not to get involved with me.' However, he couldn't just leave it at that, so he hurriedly chases the ambulance carrying Malcolm, but in vain, it explodes right in front of Frank. The moment he returns to her, stunned, he hears the words, 'I warned you,' and then Frank is punched by someone and loses consciousness. By the way, there is a flashback scene during this sequence, and the interaction here is highly recommended; when the client, who was impatient with Frank, who stubbornly refused to take the job, grabbed his favorite jacket and tried to force him to take the job by saying, 'I'll give you 10 seconds to rethink,'

(フランク)『5秒やるからこの汚い手をどけろ』

he says. (By the way, he waits exactly 5 seconds after this before delivering a kick lol) This was a super thrilling scene. If I ever have the chance to be grabbed by the collar in my life, I would definitely like to say this lol.

✅ Request

Frank woke up to find that dangerous bomb bracelet attached to his right arm. If he tries to force it off, the sensor will trigger and it will explode, and it will also explode if he gets too far from the car. To deactivate it, Mr. Johnson speaks to him in a voice like Wakamoto-san, saying, 'Complete the job exactly as I say.' Frank (or rather, Jason Statham's dub) is voiced by Yamaji-san, and the choice of voice actor is perfect. He accepts this dangerous job on the condition that he uses his own Audi A8. (I'll skip ahead a bit from here.)

✅ 1 vs. Many

While smoothly making his way to the destination, he heads to a yard where an old acquaintance, a mechanic named 'Otto,' works, in order to investigate the bomb on his arm and the source of the signal controlling it. Because he deviated from the instructed route under the pretext that 'the car is acting up,' the client, Johnson, tells him 'don't do as you please' and sends a large group of henchmen to the yard. There are roughly 20 or more of them. I thought, 'Isn't that impossible?', but my worries were unfounded. He defeats them instantly in less than 5 minutes and leaves the yard.

✅ Bicycle vs. Car

Frank and his group arrived at the next designated coordinates, but a public phone near the car suddenly rings. Frank reluctantly gets out of the car to answer it, but the caller is Johnson again. Perhaps displeased with the incident at the yard earlier, he says this to Frank in a sarcastic tone.

(ジョンソン)「ドナルド・トランプ風に言えば、そうだな『お前はクビだ』という事だ。」

The moment the call ends, a stranger gets into the Audi, which had been left idling, and steals the car. Frank notices and chases after it in a panic, but the car drives off mercilessly, and he pursues the stolen Audi while showing off his parkour and cycling skills. This is also a recommended scene that I've rewatched many times, thinking, 'His bike skills are too amazing, lol.' Valentina, who had been sleeping in the car, grabs the driver and yells, 'Stop the car!', and at the moment the car stops, he kicks through the passenger-side window, man and all, throws him out of the car, and says this.

(フランク)「お前はクビだ」

✅ Audi vs. Mercedes

Frank and the others, having fended off the assassins attacking one after another, were taking a break at a gas station to refuel, but during this time, a third party (strictly speaking, pursuers sent by the father of the kidnapped daughter) had closed in right under their noses. The pursuers stopped a little further ahead after passing them once, but when they noticed Valentina, they pulled a drift turn. Frank immediately makes a U-turn, and a car chase on the Autobahn begins. Honestly, it's no exaggeration to say this scene is the biggest highlight. Neither side gives an inch, and a large trailer is driving alongside them, blocking Frank's path. Just when you think, 'They're going to crash!', he turns the steering wheel right and left alternately, and the reaction causes the Audi's body to tilt into a '{two-wheel drive'. This is also a famous scene. The car literally 'slips through' the narrow gap between the trailers and drives into the forest. The pursuer's Mercedes also chases persistently and even fires shots. Leaving Valentina, who is enjoying this situation, to her own devices, Frank drives the Audi through the forest while making the tires screech. Just when I thought it was 'do or die' after being cornered by assault rifle fire, he slams on the brakes to let the Mercedes pass in front, then breaks the shooter's arm. His driving sense is still insane! Frank, now behind them, turns the tables. He corners the pursuers in turn and pushes them off into a valley. He leaves the scene, ignoring the exploding and burning Mercedes.

✅ Escape from the Dam Lake

Frank managed to fend off the pursuers, but without time to rest, he heads to the next destination instructed by Johnson. However, the place he arrives at is not the goal, Budapest, but a large bridge. Realizing he's been 'set up,' he finds the front and back of the bridge blocked and is ordered to hand over Valentina. As if to say, 'You're no longer needed,' the henchmen fire their guns at the Audi all at once, but just like the bridge jump in the first movie, it plunges straight into the dam lake. The Audi sinks to the bottom of the lake as water pours into the car. Moreover, because of the bracelet that explodes if he gets 20 meters away, he can't abandon the car and surface. However, even in such a dire situation, this man remained calm. He contacts Inspector Tarconi and conveys the features of the bridge in detail. He gets out of the car, wraps a large float he had in the trunk around the tires, and uses it as an oxygen tank while pumping air into it. He takes the best possible measures he can in the low-visibility water and successfully escapes the lake. By the way, Inspector Tarconi was also heading to the scene, but by the time he arrived,

He was in the middle of escaping safely like this. Honestly, I laughed quite a bit at Frank sitting 'primly' in a cross-legged position on top of the Audi being pulled by a tractor, due to the gap from the desperate situation in the previous scene. The temperature difference between the serious development and the sudden comedy is enough to make me, the viewer, catch a cold rather than the soaked Frank. Anyway, he managed to escape the predicament.

✅ Pursuit

Frank chases after Johnson and his group, who have fled, in order to take back the kidnapped Valentina. With both himself and his car 'battered,' he closes in on the train they are riding. Valentina, who had been grieving, thinking Frank was dead, happens to look out the window and, as if she noticed something, smiles fearlessly at Johnson and says this.

(ヴァレンティーナ)『死人の声が聞こえる』

While they were having that conversation, the Audi stopped suddenly on the bridge ahead of the train. I wondered what on earth he was going to do, but just as the train approached, he suddenly did a burnout. I couldn't believe it, but he really is going to fly! Right here, right now! With a car jump that has become a stylistic beauty of The Transporter, he dives onto the roof of the train Johnson and his group are riding.

✅ The Final Battle

Frank kicks through the window to face Johnson and his gang, but they are professional killers armed with guns. Even for someone with a military background like him, the situation is unfavorable, so he hides behind a seat to wait for an opportunity. Then, for better or worse, a stray bullet hits a luggage rack, causing a 'helmet' to fall down. He immediately shoots it at one of the enemies! (At an angle worthy of a certain elementary school detective). It lands a clean hit on the enemy's face, creating an opening for a counterattack. He snatches an assault rifle and takes out the gang one by one. He's just too strong... He finally corners Johnson, but his bracelet reacts, indicating he has reached the danger zone where it will explode if he goes any further.

(ジョンソン)「ほらどうした？『あと一歩』だぞ、フランク」

Johnson taunts him. Valentina watches with concern, but Frank runs back to the vehicle he came from. Johnson immediately detaches the train cars to block Frank's path. He points to his watch to the remaining Valentina and says, 'The signing ceremony is in a few minutes! It'll be over by then,' urging her to give up. Yes, there are only a few minutes left until the deadline for her father, the Minister of the Environment, to sign an agreement allowing another country's industrial waste to be brought into their country. There is no more time.

✅ The Climax

The climax is finally here. The detached train car moves further and further away from the one Frank is in. Inspector Tarconi, who came to help, also chases the train with his police cars. When he glances up, he sees Frank and the Audi on top of the train. Realizing what he is about to do, he says,

(タルコニ警部)『無理だフランク。やめるんだ。』

but with the accelerator floored, he dives with the car for the third time in this movie! He crashes head-on into the car where Johnson and his men are. The 'final battle' finally begins. Johnson pulls a hidden knife from his ankle and attacks Frank, but Frank sees a momentary opening and counterattacks. After knocking Johnson out with his signature martial arts, he snatches the bracelet's controller (the deactivation key). Then, he restrains him with the car's seatbelt and says,

(フランク)『俺とお前は気が合わないが、このブレスレットはお前にも似合いそうだ』

Having 'gifted' the bracelet back to him, Frank puts the car in reverse. Eventually, the car slides off the train and is wrecked, but Johnson panics at the 'beep-beep' warning sound that triggers when the car moves away. Ironically, Johnson ends up being killed by the very trap he created. Frank and Valentina, who were nearby, are caught in the explosion, but Frank dives into the train seat to shield her at the last second, and both survive. At this moment, when she says, 'Is this heaven?'—the same line she used when she first met Frank—he replies, 'More like hell,' which was a heart-pounding scene that perfectly capped off the story. The Minister of the Environment, learning his daughter is safe, cancels the signing. The country was saved from the clutches of environmental pollution planned by profit-driven corporations.

✅ Ending

A few days after the incident, Frank, having regained his peace, is fishing with Inspector Tarconi just like at the beginning. He listens half-heartedly to the news that the mastermind behind the incident has been caught while continuing to fish in silence. A woman approaches them. Yes, it's Valentina. She tells the two, 'Let's go to a restaurant with delicious fish instead of fishing,' and the movie ends with the scene of them wrapping up their fishing trip and heading off together.

■ Conclusion

How was it?
I've talked at length about the movie 'Transporter 3' this time. It's possible that writing an article about a movie like this might be the 'first and last' time. But that is just how much it was

the 'movie that changed my life'

for me. If I hadn't gotten hooked on this movie, I wouldn't be driving this Audi A8, and I wouldn't have been able to connect so happily with my followers on X. Therefore, I hope you will all find a movie that changes your life as well. I'm sure it will add color to your life.

Thank you very much for reading this far.
See you in the next article! 👋

🎥 The movie introduced this time ↓↓↓