The Transporter 2 – Blu-ray Disc

March 23, 2008 – 7:35 PM - Posted by: Brendan Surpless

Tags: FOX, Jason Statham

has an average rating of 6.1 on IMDb
1080p in MPEG-2 on a 25gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
DON’T EXIST!
–
– 2005
– 87 minutes
– FOX

Buy it for $17.95 @ Amazon.com
— Review written by Brendan Surpless

The Movie Itself is directed by Louis Leterrier (known for directing the first film and the upcoming film “The Incredible Hulk“). When the original “Transporter” was released onto DVD, it quickly gained a reputation through many action fans that caused the film’s sales to skyrocket. The sales skyrocketed so high that Twentieth Century FOX quickly green lit the sequel to a film they had no interest in making a sequel to after the rather poor theatrical performance. Quickly recapping the first film for those of you have not seen it. “The Transporter” starred actor Jason Statham (“Cellular“) as Frank Martin a.k.a The Transporter, a man who would transport anything at a price. He had three rules if you wanted to hire him. 1. Never change the deal. 2. No Names. 3. Never look in the package. Martin is hired to deliver a large duffel bag. The bag tends to complain and squirm. The bag contains a Chinese woman named Lai. Martin cuts a hole in the tape over her mouth, thus violating his third rule of never looking in the bag.

The first film had action, a lot of it. So much of it that the action started to become tiresome toward the end as we could easily figure everything out. But I guess that’s why these films are so short. Any longer and we’d become literally bored with what was in front of us. With that said the first “Transporter” was a highly entertaining film and the sequel is just as good. If you want a film that has convincing and sensible action sequences, don’t watch this. However if you’d like to watching something that you can shut your brain off to, give this one a chance.

We meet Frank Martin again, this time in Miami. He has been helping a friend by filing in for a month as the driver and bodyguard for a child named Jack (Hunter Clary), whose father Jackson (Matthew Modine) heads the United States Narcotics Agency. The child is kidnapped in a scheme involving a fake doctor. The child is given a ransom that is delivered by never picked up and the child is quickly returned unharmed. Or so it seems. The main reason this film succeeds so much more than the first is simply because the second film has much more of an ingenious plot that continues to create surprises well into the third act of the film. This is not a rehash of the original film where the good guy chases the bad guys and eventually is victorious. It is more of a slier film with a trickier plot than most would expect.

Even though some of the action scenes are extremely out of this world to a point where you can’t help but laugh (for example: Zooming off a ramp to dislodge a bomb, crashing through a car garage and not damaging the Audi), the film still works in creating that atmosphere we expect from action films. The scenes are effective for the most part because they are well done. Veteran Luc Besson made sure that every action scene tried to top the scenes in the previous film, but in a manner that would come off as original but also as pure fun. Besson definitely succeeded in that aspect as “The Transporter 2” is a pure popcorn blast of a time that is just as good as the original.

Video Quality on this release is 1080p in MPEG-2 on a BD-25 Single-Layered Disc. Colors are deep, everything looks sharp, clear, and natural with nearly zero instances of dirt or any blemishes on the screen. Some might complain that this transfer has too much of a “bright, glossy” look to the movie, but I feel that was director Leterrier’s decision in hopes of capturing the Miami locale. I will admit this “washed out” look did get a little too bright sometimes (in particular when Frank is chasing the vial in the streets), but I found it not too annoying. Detail was also quite impressive (take a look at the opening sequence with the close up of Frank’s face). Grain was noticeable here and there but it never became a nuisance. Shot using 35mm cameras, the film makes a nice transfer over to hi-def giving us a superb “3-D” image. Another fantastic job here FOX.

Audio Quality on this release is DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. The audio is just as good as the picture. One of my favorite demo sequences has always been the opening sequence where Frank slaps and kicks the ‘punks’ all around the parking garage. Each and every hit fills a speaker creating an all around awesome aural experience. And the film’s Dynamic Range is also something to mention. All the effects like the screeching tires, blazing bullets, loud voices and zooming cars. The film’s LFE is very deep with solid bass that adds to the overall sound experience. Take a listen to the sequence where Frank is racing down the highway in a Porsche. Listen for each and every discrete effect as he zips in between cars. Lastly dialogue sounds pristine never becoming an issue. FOX continues their winning ways (audio wise) with “Transporter 2“.

Bonus Materials

As this title was one of the earlier FOX Blu-ray Disc titles, this release was completely stripped of all extras.

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