Everything Action Theater: The Hire “Ambush”

We’re talking about 2002’s The Transporter for this week’s Everything Actioncast but, before Jason Statham got behind the wheel of a BMW, Clive Owen was The Driver in a series of BMW-sponsored short films, The Hire.  Specifically mentioned by producer Luc Besson as the inspiration for The Transporter, The Hire series started in 2001 and continues to this day, with a recent installment, “The Calm” released in 2023 and directed by Extraction’s Sam Hargrave.  Each installment found Clive Owen’s Driver being hired for a different job (and usually behind the wheel of a different model BMW).  The series has drawn in huge talent over the years with Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, and David Fincher producing and episodes were directed by John Woo, Tony Scott, Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie, Joe Carnahan, Neill Blomkamp, Wong Kar-Wai, and more.  The episodes also featured co-stars like Madonna, Mickey Rourke, Forest Whitaker, Jon Bernthal, Stellan Skarsgard, Don Cheadle, F. Murray Abraham and many more.  You can watch the first episode in the series, “The Ambush”, directed by John Frankenheimer, below.