Transporter 3 is sadly a poor entry into the franchise, especially for the end of the Statham line, although I found it to be more entertaining compared with the TV series and Refueled reboot.
Transporter 3
(2008)
Genre(s): Action, Crime
Lionsgate | PG13 – 104 min. – $22.99 | September 19, 2017
Date Published: 08/06/2018 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Lionsgate provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.5/5 |
|
Generally I enjoy mindless action movies be it The Fast and the Furious franchise, xXx or Swordfish, they hit the right note for days when you just want to sit back and relax. Transporter 3 is mindless for sure, but unlike its two predecessors, this one was certainly the weakest of the bunch lacking any real impressive fight or action scenes and without those, you are left with an ultra thin plot.
Speaking of which, this third, and final for Statham before which was rebooted with Transporter: Refueled (and rightfully bombed at the box office), finds Frank Martin (JASON STATHAM) forced to transport the Valentina, daughter (NATALYA RUDAKOVA) of a Ukrainian official (JEROEN KRABBE), who is about to set back Big Bad Oil Company™ for a generic bad guy Johnson (ROBERT KNEPPER), threatening to kill her unless papers are signed for Big Bad Oil Company™ to get stupid rich. There is a wrinkle for the moral Martin: he, and Valentina, has a bracelet locked on that if they drift too far away from the car, kablooey. The movie isn’t terrible by any stretch but like Vin Diesel in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Transporter 3 excels more for the charisma of Jason Statham in what otherwise would’ve been a bland character (as proven by how lifeless Ed Skrein and Chris Vance in their respective turns). Statham is in fine form here and probably helped overcome some of the weaker elements.
The action sequences were adequately directed by Olivier Megaton, who probably has the most awesome name for an action director, shame he hasn’t lived up to it thus far (see: Taken 2 & 3 and even Columbiana was disappointing, but passable). In the end, Transporter 3 is a disappointing finale of the Statham trilogy, yet still was better than both the television series and Refueled, so there is that at least. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
|
This release comes with a glossy slip cover and a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Audio Commentary – Director Olivier Megaton takes viewers through the process of making the movie offering up bits of information on the behind-the-scenes tid-bits from how he got the gig to his directing style. Special Delivery: Transporters in the Real World (13:49; HD) – This featurette looks at what real life transporters do, delivering everything from papers to people, with comments by experts in the field. Making of Transporter 3 (16:16; HD) is a behind-the-scenes featurette breaking down the origins of this third entry into the franchise with on-set interviews with the cast and crew. Storyboard Compare (2:47; HD) looks at the original storyboards and the live action counterpart. Visual Effects (2:33; HD) is a featurette on the effects work and breaking down and how it was put together and finalized for the screen. The Sets (2:10; HD) examines the production design. Theatrical Trailer (1:08; HD) |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Transporter 3 is the latest catalog title to come from Lionsgate, where it is presented with a 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and given a fine looking 2160p high-definition transfer. The picture was sharp throughout and colors bright, boosted by the HDR while black levels were stark enough yet never losing the detail. I never noticed any major instances of things like banding and there is some natural detailed grain. I won’t quite say this is reference quality compared to other catalog titles, yet still impressive enough. |
AUDIO – 5.0/5 |
| The original Blu-ray had a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track while this 4K disc gets a slight upgrade with Dolby Atmos. The first track was already impressive and this one does take it up an okay notch with excellent dialogue coming through the center channel while the depth shines through the front and rear speakers and an extra boost when the LFE kicked on to shake the wall and floor. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
|
Overall, Transporter 3 is sadly a poor entry into the franchise, especially for the end of the Statham line, although I found it to be more entertaining compared with the TV series and Refueled reboot. The 4K release offers up excellent audio/video transfers and a so-so selection of bonus features. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.