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Transporter 3 in our magazines

THE MOVIE: Transporter 3

THE STARS:
Jason Statham • Natalya Rudakova • Francois Berleand • Robert Knepper
DIRECTOR: Olivier Megaton

THE CONCEPT:
Frank Martin (Statham) is pressured into transporting Valentina (Rudakova), a kidnap victim, from Marseilles to Odessa. Despite Martin’s cynical disposition, he and Valentina fall in love as they escape from one life-threatening situation after another

U.S. RELEASE: November 26 2008, Nationwide
• Rated: PG-13

THE COMMENTS:

JASON STATHAM:
“I think on this third film we have found Frank Martin’s weakness. And it all lies within this lovely female here [points to Natalya]. Obviously it’s about the creative aspects of how are we going to make this one a little more interesting, how do you make Frank Martin more vulnerable? And at the same time, you always have to try and exceed what you did in the previous two films, which is so difficult these days, because there’s so much to live up to.”

OLIVIER MEGATON on the most challenging scene to shoot:
“Everything was so prepared, even if we didn’t have a lot of time, it was not really difficult. The only thing is you don’t want to miss anything. It’s like a puzzle. You have all the pieces on the table and you say, ‘What is the shot that I forgot?’ Maybe the scene under the water was little more tricky because when you shoot something under the water it takes about four or five times longer. But otherwise, I had the best team in France so it was just a pleasure every day.”

STATHAM:
“The fight sequences always pose a certain challenge and if you’re not physically ready, if you don’t hit the gym and you’re not stretched out, you’re going to get injured very quickly, so you have to be very efficient with your preparations. We try to give as much time as we can, way, way before we start filming.”

NATALYA RUDICOVA on being the only woman on the set:
“I was excited because they paid a lot of attention to me and they helped me a lot. They were so protective, and it was lots of fun just seeing how they worked and brought the movie to life. Because they have all the muscles and the power, I brought this gentle touch of a woman, that just felt amazing.”

STATHAM:
“I think Frank has this good moral code, even though what he does is not necessarily on the right side of the law. But what he really does instinctively is something that is good. He has good judgment of what is really deep seated and correct and respectful. [I have a] great amount of respect for someone that can deal with these very intense situations that don’t necessarily go as planned. How do you get out of those situations with minimal amounts of damage? It’s not like this guy waves a gun around and shoots people in the head unnecessarily, he’s trying to do the least amount of damage possible, he’s not looking for conflict, he just wants to have an easy life and, at the same time, the way he protects that is to not get involved with people, and live a very quiet sort of lonely life. Generally, we’re much more sociable and much less inclined to deal with situations than someone like Frank Martin.”

ROBERT KNEPPER (Johnson):
“I remember reading the script thinking, the train fight was the climatic fight, so it had to feel a little bit different. I wanted to make sure that my character was a worthy opponent for Frank Martin, he didn’t just clean up like he did with the other guys, and I thought the way it was choreographed was kind of interesting, and it was one of the most interesting fight scenes I’ve ever done, and one of the longest ones, which was exhausting. The night before I totally messed up my foot trying to get through the door of a car of the train, and I thought, ‘Oh no, this is going to be terrible, I don’t even know how I’m going to stand or walk.’ The door was supposed to crash open. I’m chasing Jason and somebody had closed the door. So I hit it as hard as I could, kicking it with my foot, and it was a solid door. But Jason helped me though the fight the next day and I thought we were pretty good, worthy opponents. He still has to win the fight, the good guy wins, but it was exhilarating.”

STATHAM:
“Frank is much cooler than me. I’m a bit of a fool deep down. Luc Besson is ultimately responsible for the creation of Frank Martin, for me being in Hollywood right now. If it wasn’t for Transporter I, I don’t think I’d be in this position. It’s the first movie I ever did where I played a leading role. And certainly the first action movie I’d ever done, so it’s great to have such a huge opportunity to do something like that. Am I like Frank Martin? Apart from being able to put on a black suit and have the same haircut, probably not.”

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

Visit the official Transporter 3 site
Images above © Lionsgate
Feature © 2008 Visual Imagination.
Not for reproduction.

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