The Transporter (TV Series) Boom (2014) User Reviews

Small-screen remake of a classic

[tvman-3 · 7/10 · 18 September 2015]

This episode is clearly a remake of the classic movie "The Wages of Fear," which was remade by William Friedkin as "Sorcerer." Different context, of course, along with different topography, climate, etc., but very much the same premise. In this instance, there are three trucks, and the race against time is to save a group of trapped miners in the middle east, rather than to extinguish an oil well fire in South America. Frankly (no pun intended; okay, maybe a bit), I'm not wild about these stories that take Transporter Frank Martin out of his natural elements of a high-powered car on a stretch of highway or navigating tricky city streets, literally racing the clock. Without offering a quote, it's worth pointing out that Frank himself comments on how this particular "assignment" is taking him out of his element, as he must navigate marginally undriveable roads with slow, cautious, care. That said, if you haven't seen either of the films mentioned above, it ought to be a pretty riveting episode for you to view. There was a scene in "Sorcerer" (not replicated here) where the suspense became so intense I nearly had to get up and leave the theater.

Frank drives very slowly!

[Tweekums · 27 February 2016]

This episode sees Frank and Cat delivering a case to a mine in North Africa; when they see that it contained money they are a little surprised as hiring a transporter is an expensive way to deliver a relatively small amount of cash. When an explosion traps several miners, including a 'troublemaker', underground they wonder if the case might have contained something else. The son of the mine manager is also trapped so he is keen for a rescue attempt to go ahead. It won't be easy though; the miners only have twelve hours of air and the dynamite that could be used to free then is in an abandoned storage shed in the mountains. Frank, the wife of one of the miners, and an elderly miner drive for two hours to fetch the dynamite and discover that it is now highly unstable; the drive back will take six hours… assuming there are no further problems. Back at the mine Cat and the mine manager must work against the security chief who seems determined that the miners will not be rescued.

We are used to seeing Frank driving fast in a top of the range car as various bad guys chase him but this episode sees him driving extremely slowly in an ancient truck… and it is just as exciting. The drive through the mountains with unstable explosives, which was clearly inspired by 'The Wages of Fear', was tense. The tension rises as various things go wrong; firstly a break down and then a run-in with bandits... there are inevitably some impressive explosions as well as a shocking moment when the bandits kill one of the trio. This was shocking because it was so sudden rather than built up to. The villain of the story wasn't as menacing as many of the series' bad guys but that didn't matter to much as the unstable dynamite would have provided enough of a threat even if there were no human threat back at the mine. The fact that there is a time limit as the miners are running out of air only serves to emphasise the stressful situation. Overall a gripping episode.