A WebVideo series produced by BMW in 2001 and 2002, with another installment in 2016, starring Creator/CliveOwen. Essentially, this is a GenreAnthology where each episode only has two recurring features: [[EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep The Driver]], and a series of [[ProductPlacement BMW]] [[CoolCar automobiles]]. Each episode featured a different director and guest stars, and usually a different model of car. Not to mention [[ToneShift vastly different moods]]; the films range from being intense and dramatic to being comic slapstick.

The videos [[InspirationForTheWork inspired]] the movie ''Film/TheTransporter''.

In 2023, the BMW Films label was resurrected for a new short film entitled "[[https://www.bmw.com/en/electric-future/short-film-the-calm-bmw-i7-m70.html The Calm]]", which premiered at that year's Cannes Film Festival in May. While not a direct continuation of the series, it serves as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''The Hire'' and contains many of the series' trademark elements. It was directed by Sam Hargrave, produced by Creator/JosephKosinski, and stars Creator/PomKlementieff and Creator/UmaThurman.
----
!!The web series contain the following tropes:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: All Episodes ]]


* BadassDriver: The main character, played by Clive Owen.
* BerserkButton: The Driver is generally very protective over the people he's been tasked to protect and it is not a good idea to mess with them. He's even gone against his clients to protect them on more than one occasion.
* ChaseScene: Most of the episodes feature some variation of this.
* CoolCar: [[ProductPlacement But of course.]] In the first season, he gets a new car for every episode (possibly because the car gets utterly trashed during the ensuing ChaseScene in [[OnceAnEpisode every episode]] except for ''The Follow''. He keeps the same (new) car for the entire second season.
* DependingOnTheWriter: The tone, style, and even genre of each episode varies wildly, due to each episode having a different director. And while the Driver's general personality is relatively the same throughout the entire series, his character traits are sometimes subtly tweaked to better fit the tone of a given episode.
* FamedInStory: The Driver is at least well-known and trustworthy enough to be hired by a multitude of organizations, from shady criminal ones to more heroic governmental agencies, to do whatever they need him to do. Why a number of bad guys keep hiring him even though he has a tendency to go against them or why the government keeps entrusting him even though he has criminal ties is anyone's guess, though.
* GenreShift: Each film reflects the sensibilities of its director. The series has gone from high-octane action to slapstick comedy to moody character piece with The Driver and BMW being the only unifying theme.
* GuileHero: When sheer driving badassitude won't cut it, the Driver will resort to a variety of unorthodox tricks to get the better of his opponents.
* MoodWhiplash: If you binge-watch this series the two comedy entries, ''Star'' and ''Beat the Devil'', can be a bit jarring, considering that they come after ''The Follow'' and ''Ticker'', respectively. For bonus points, ''Star'' is immediately followed by ''Powder Keg''.
* MysteriousPast: The Driver receives very little in the way of {{Backstory}}, indeed, he doesn't even have a ''name''. We pick up bits and pieces about him in dialogue.
* NamelessNarrative: Very few characters, including the Driver himself, are ever referred to by actual names, and it stands out whenever someone does. "The Escape" averts this, with all three of its important characters (Lily, Holt, and Dr. Phillips) receiving proper names.
* NoNameGiven: The protagonist is never referred to by name, and the script only refers to him as The Driver. Likewise with some of the other characters, such as the unnamed Passenger in "Ambush" and "Chosen".
* NotSoStoic: The Driver is a suave individual with NervesOfSteel and keeps his cool in nearly every situation, though there are times when he lets emotion peek through.
** At the end of "Ambush" [[spoiler:when the old man simply laughs when the Driver asks him if he really swallowed the diamonds,]] he seems amused and nearly cracks a smile. The same goes with the ending of "Chosen", when the Driver finds out that the gift that the boy gave him was a bandage for his grazed ear.
** In "The Powder Keg", Harvey Jacobs' bitter reflection over his career as a war photographer moves him and he's very shaken by Jacobs' death. When the Driver visits Jacobs' mother, his voice cracks while talking about her son and he's on the verge of tears.
** After spending all of the "The Escape" being his usual stoic self, he smiles once Lily is reunited with Dr. Phillips.
** He's noticeably bemused by the "crazy talk" between James Brown and the Devil, though reverts to his previous stoic self once the race starts. Until he sees Brown has suddenly regained his lost youth.
* ProductPlacement: Well, yeah; the whole series was sponsored by BMW, after all.
* RuleOfCool: This is the [[{{Pun}} driving]] factor behind most of what happens in the films. The producers had to actually ''disable'' some of the features on the cars they were showing off to make the driving stunts look more impressive. For example, the cars featured are all designed to ''not'' to do hairpin turns or skids because that's ''dangerous''.

----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ambush ]]


The Driver must protect his passenger from a van full of heavily armed jewel thieves, who want the diamonds that his passenger is smuggling. One problem: The Passenger swallowed the diamonds to get them through Customs, and these men will not hesitate to cut him open to get at them.

Directed by Creator/JohnFrankenheimer, guest-starring Tomas Milian as the Passenger.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: [[spoiler:The Driver just seems amused when the Passenger implies that he lied about swallowing the diamonds.]]
* CarFu: in addition to the usual sideswiping and trading of paint with the van, the Driver later intentionally forces other cars on the road to to spin out or swerve out of the way to create [[MobstacleCourse obstacles for his persuers.]]
* CasualDangerDialogue: After the first round of being shot at by the jewel thieves:
-->'''Driver''': Are you still alive?
-->'''Passenger''': Yeah. ''([[FunnyBackgroundEvent buckling his seatbelt]])''
* CountingToThree: The lead robber instructs the Driver to slowly pull over to the side of the road as he counts down from ten.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: The bad guys talk to the Driver through his car radio. They had to show him their walkie talkie and use {{hand signals}} to tell him what frequency to tune to, however.
* {{Foil}}: The Passenger openly shows his fear in contrast to TheStoic Driver.
* GunAccessories: The robbers have torches mounted on a Desert Eagle pistol and a [[MoreDakka squad automatic weapon]]. Justified as it's nighttime and they need to see into a dark car interior.
* JustKeepDriving: Averted. Bystander vehicles swerve out of the way or slam on the brakes to try and avoid the Driver and the van full of jewel thieves.
* MacGuffinEscortMission: In this case a MineralMacGuffin--$2 million dollars of stolen uncut diamonds and their courier.
* MalevolentMaskedMen: The robbers wear balaclavas and drive a VanInBlack.
* PreAsskickingOneLiner: "Buckle up." Becomes a BrickJoke because the Passenger doesn't have time.
* RoadBlock: The Driver is forced to brake at a road construction site. When his pursuers come up behind him, he puts the car in reverse to smash their headlights, then drives straight through the ROAD WORK AHEAD signs.
* TreasureChestCavity: Faced with a well-armed professional heist team, The Driver tells the Passenger to [[KnowWhenToFoldEm just hand over the diamonds]] as he has no intention of getting killed for someone else's merchandise. He only relents when the Passenger pleads that he swallowed the diamonds, and the thieves will cut him open to get them. [[spoiler:Or so he claims, but the end implies it was a lie so he wouldn't have to hand the diamonds over.]]
* WronskiFeint: [[spoiler:The Driver plows through the roadblock after smashing the headlights of the other vehicle, and then leads them on to where a bulldozer is parked on the road. He then brakes and switches off his headlights. Unable to see the road clearly, his pursuers blindly crash into the bulldozer [[StuffBlowingUp and explode]].]]
* YouWouldDoTheSameForMe: Inverted; after the robbers crash their van, the Driver says they'll call Highway Patrol from the next town to report the 'accident'. He notes dryly that they wouldn't have done the same if the situation had been reversed.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Chosen ]]


The Driver meets a boat at the pier and picks up his passenger, a young Asian boy who is considered very important by the monks entrusting him to the Driver. He must evade a group of armed men trying to capture or kill the boy, and get him to the safe house where the monks can protect him.

Directed by Creator/AngLee, guest-starring Mason Lee as the Passenger.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:The Driver stops the fake monk injecting the boy with a syringe of sedative or poison, knocking him into a prayer wheel.]]
* CarFu: The goons are able to trap the Driver's car in an alley formed by shipping containers. When one of them starts shooting into the BMW, the Driver puts it into reverse and [[RammingAlwaysWorks rams the other car out of the way]].
* ChekhovsGun: The gift the Driver receives from the boy, which the Driver is not to open until later. [[spoiler:It's a bandage for his ear, which gets nicked by a bullet later in the film.]]
* ISurrenderSuckers: The Driver brakes on seeing a couple of vehicles blocking his way off the docks. At a nod from the boy however, he slams on the accelerator and shoots off between them.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Although the boy is TheStoic and WiseBeyondTheirYears, [[spoiler:the bandage he leaves for the Driver has a picture of ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk on it, implying he's a fan.]]
* OhCrap: A gunman leaning out his door to shoot at The Driver gives off a good one when he realizes that they are about to be rammed.
* MacGuffinEscortMission: This time it's a boy who may well be TheChosenOne.
* {{Seer}}: How did the boy know the Driver would require a [[spoiler:bandaid?]]
* SlipperySkid: The BMW drives across a sheet of ice that makes a couple of pursuing vehicles crash.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The music in the car chase makes the Driver dodging the pursuing cars seem like a vehicular ballet.
* TheSpeechless: The boy never says a word to the Driver, only using FacialDialogue to indicate [[WiseBeyondTheirYears what he's thinking]].
* SpotTheImposter: [[spoiler:The Driver safely delivers the boy to a safehouse where an amiable monk expresses his gratitude and coaxes the boy upstairs with him. The boy however refuses to let go of the Driver's hand, wordlessly indicating that the monk is wearing cowboy boots under his saffron robe. The Driver lets him go and leaves, but then peeks in a window to see the real monks are all BoundAndGagged.]]
* TheStoic: The boy can match the Driver when it comes to his deadpan response to dangerous situations.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Follow ]]


The Driver is hired by a paranoid movie star's agent to follow the star's wife, who the star suspects is having an affair behind his back. Though hesitant, the Driver agrees to the mission, and explains [[MrExposition via narration]] how to tail someone, all while he learns more about [[TheWoobie the young wife]].

Directed by Creator/WongKarWai, guest-starring Creator/MickeyRourke as the Husband, Adriana Lima as the Wife, and Creator/ForestWhitaker in an uncredited role as the Husband's agent.

* DomesticAbuse: When the Driver gets a [[BeautifulDreamer close-up look at the wife]], he sees she's hiding a massive bruise and a cut eyelid behind her sunglasses.
* GilliganCut: A dramatic variation. As the Driver watches the wife from afar at the airport café, he narrates, "Whatever you do, don't get too close." One quick nighttime establishing shot later, he's sitting right next to her.
* IncrediblyObviousTail:
** It does seem odd that the wife does not notice the same black BMW right behind her the whole way to the airport, but this is somewhat [[LampshadeHanging acknowledged]] and [[HandWave explained away]] in the narration, which explains that you keep moving around, changing lanes from time to time, getting a bit closer, a bit farther, moving into their blindspot if you end up too close behind them, and most of all that the best way to avoid detection is to know their patterns, so you can predict what they will do next.
** And also [[AvertedTrope averted]] shortly later. Once they leave the city and get out on the highway, he drops much farther back because he can still see her car in the distance.
* InLoveWithTheMark: According to the narration, this should be avoided at all costs. Do not get too emotionally attached, or try to relate to the person you are tailing, no matter how sympathetic they are. [[UnreliableVoiceover Of course, he utterly fails at this step.]]
* KeepTheReward: Once he learns more about the woman he has been hired to tail, the Driver returns the money, claiming that she got away from him.
* MistakenForCheating: The movie star thinks his wife is having an affair. If that's so, the Driver never sees any evidence of it.
* MrExposition: This is one of the only episodes to have the Driver narrating, and the only one where he narrates through the entire film, explaining how tailing someone works.
* MysteriousPast: In a rare bit of BackStory for The Driver, he mentions that he's not married anymore, but no explanation is given as to why (divorce, widow, etc.) nor any details about his wife.
* OhCrap: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], and the narration goes on to explain that you should ''never'' react at all if the person you are tailing doubles back and sees you. As soon as the wife turns around and looks at him, the Driver casually looks up at the Departures board at the airport.
* WhiteDwarfStarlet: The movie star is heavily implied to be a male version of this trope. We get to see his fast-talking agent on the phone trying to get him a role in another film, insisting that he's at the top of his game, and evidently having a hard time convincing the guy on the other end of this.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Star ]]


The Driver has been hired to provide transportation for The Star, a massively talented, extremely famous, and [[BadBoss intensely abusive]] singer. As they depart for the venue, the Driver receives a call from the Star's manager, Glen, who reminds him to take his time, and to give the Star everything the Manager has paid him for. The Driver proceeds to [[BreakTheHaughty take the Star down a few notches]] as he [[DrivesLikeCrazy speeds across the city]].

Directed by Creator/GuyRitchie, guest-starring Music/{{Madonna}}.

* ActorAllusion: The Star, a world-famous and highly talented musician, played by Madonna.
* AmusingInjuries: The worst that the Star suffers is some smeared makeup and an embarrassing coffee spill, despite being turned into a human pinball inside a speeding car and being ''ejected'' from the vehicle hard enough to fly ten feet before hitting the ground.
* AssholeVictim: The Star.
* BadBoss: Oh dear ''lord'' the Star. Verbally abusive of pretty much everyone who works for her.
* BatmanGambit: The entire plan seems to hinge on the Star deciding on the spur of the moment to get in the white car instead of the black one. Of course, the black one might have simply had [[Film/TheTransporter Jason Statham]] driving.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The Star insists that the Driver drive ''faster''. At least he asked her to put on her seatbelt first.
* BitchAlert
* BringMyBrownPants: When the Star gets dumped at the feet of a horde of paparazzi, she's got an embarrassing stain around her crotch. Implied to be a result of her spilled coffee, but that's NotWhatItLooksLike.
* CastingGag: Madonna was married to director Creator/GuyRitchie at the time.
* ChekhovsGun: The Star's coffee. [[GroinAttack Piping hot.]]
* CurseCutShort: The Driver explains to the FourthWall that the Star, in addition to her many qualities, is a "complete [[CountryMatters c--]]" "[[NoIndoorVoice GLEEENNN!]]
* ExtremeDoormat: Glen, the Star's manager. The Driver points out that Glen has no spine, but then, [[MoneyDearBoy he gets paid enough not to have one.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: It is ''heavily'' implied that this was the exact reason the Star's manager called in the Driver.
* DontCallMeSir: The Star irately tells the Driver not to "ma'am" her, presumably suspecting (correctly) that he was [[ServileSnarker sassing]] her. Once he abandons all pretenses of being subservient to her, he proceeds to [[InsistentTerminology call her "Sir"]] instead.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Oh dear '''''lord''''' the Driver. The Star ''really'' should have put on her seatbelt when he asked.
* GroupieBrigade: They drive past a bunch of screaming fans as they exit the parking garage, and the Star [[GenreSavvy ducks out of the way]] expertly to avoid being seen by them.
* IcyBlueEyes
-->"The first thing you notice physically about this lady, are her eyes. Bright blue eyes. It's rare to actually see them [[SunglassesAtNight because they're usually covered up]] but when you do...it's worth it."
* IShallTauntYou: At one point, the Driver pulls up alongside the bodyguards and winks at them before speeding off.
* LargeHam:
** The Driver is obviously enjoying this job ''so much''.
** The Star is basically playing a hammy {{Jerkass}} [[AdamWesting version of herself]].
* MustHaveCaffeine: "Coffee! I want a coffee!"
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Oddly enough, up until the last bit, the description given for the Star could be a description of {{Music/Madonna}}, [[ActorAllusion who plays the Star]].
* NoSeatBelts: PlayedForLaughs. There's a good reason you should wear your seatbelt in a car.
* NominalImportance: Glen, the agent who hired the Driver, is one of only a handful of named characters in the entire series.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: The Driver claims first not to know he was hired to drive for the Star, then that he doesn't know where they are going, and ''then'' makes a point of driving infuriatingly slow to get under her skin.
* {{Paparazzi}}: The Driver, at the end of the drive, deposits the Star right in front of the gathered photographers, complete with a large stain on her pants from the [[ChekhovsGun coffee that she had in her lap at the start.]]
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Generally speaking, driving recklessly and intentionally causing your passenger to be sent bouncing off the interior of the car because she is not wearing your seatbelt is generally considered a ''bad thing''. But it is just ''so hard'' to remember that, considering what a JerkAss the Star is.
* PublicServiceAnnouncement: A titlecard at the end reminds you to buckle your seatbelt.
* SloMoBigAir: Complete with the soundtrack changing abruptly to ''Music/RideOfTheValkyries''; the face the Driver makes has to be [[LargeHam seen to be believed]].
* StopAndGo: The music abruptly stops when the Driver backs the car into an alley... then as soon as they see the bodyguards drive by in their car, he takes off again with the music kicking back on.
* UnreliableVoiceover: The Driver describes in detail that the Star has gorgeous blue eyes, strong, feminine hands, and a billion-dollar voice. Meanwhile, we see her adjust her sunglasses, then a close-up on her gloved hands cleaning said sunglasses, then a closeup on her mouth as she opens it... to cough.
* YouGetMeCoffee: The Star's first line is to scream at her assistant for a cup of coffee.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Powder Keg ]]


[[IntrepidReporter Harvey Jacobs]] has just taken the most important photographs of his career, but is wounded in the process. The American government hires The Driver to go in and extract him, bringing him and [[MacGuffin his pictures]] out of [[BananaRepublic Nuevo Colon]] so that the government's crimes will be brought to light.

Directed by Creator/AlejandroGonzalezInarritu, guest-starring Creator/StellanSkarsgard as Harvey Jacobs, and Creator/LoisSmith as Harvey's mother.

* CameraSniper: A sound-only version as we hear a camera's motor drive whirring and nervous breathing as Jacobs watches gunmen line up a row of peasants and shoot them.
* BananaRepublic: Nuevo Colon. Even though the men committing the execution that Jacobs photographs don't appear to be official--implying they're cartel gunmen or a death squad militia--they seem to have to cooperation of the army and police and have no problem setting up a roadblock just a few hundred meters down the road from the official border crossing.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Driver gets the photographs across the border, but Harvey Jacobs dies of his injuries, receiving a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for his work.]]
* DiplomaticImpunity: {{Averted}}. The Driver knows [[OhCrap they are in trouble]] when the roadblock guards don't care one whit that he is working for the American Embassy.
* DrugsAreBad
-->'''Jacobs:''' What are we doing to this country? [[TakeThat All so our youngsters can have their weekly lines of coke.]] Every night a line of blood.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Jacobs is shot, a closeup shows his dog tags are in Braille. When Jacobs is asked why he became a photographer, he says his mother "taught him to see". [[spoiler:Later the Driver [[DueToTheDead delivers the dog tags to Jacob's mother]] and discovers that she's blind.]]
* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: Jacobs gives his film to the Driver so he can get them out of the country.
* IRegretNothing: Averted. Harvey regrets that he didn't take time to play with his kids.
-->'''Driver:''' So how many have you got?
-->'''Harvey:''' [[MarriedToTheJob None.]]
* JustAFleshWound: Averted. After photographing the mass execution, Jacobs tries to sneak away but the gunmen see the long grass moving and open fire, wounding him. He's able to get to a nearby town for first aid treatment but can't go to a hospital, so the Driver is hired to get him to a doctor across the border.
* MacGuffin: The film, though Jacobs is meant to be a LivingMacGuffin as well.
* MobstacleCourse: A police car tries to pull over the Driver once he's outside the city limits, but the Driver is able to stay ahead of them by weaving through oncoming traffic. Until they hit the RoadBlock.
* NominalImportance: Harvey Jacobs is one of only two or three characters to get named at all in the series. His actions appear to have a much bigger impact than almost anyone else's in the films as well.
* RoadBlock: With the cooperation of what appears to be a police officer, the gunmen set up an impromptu roadblock to stop the Driver before he reaches the border. When the policeman tries to shoot Jacobs, the Driver deflects the gun [[FriendOrFoe causing the bullet to hit the gunman opposite]] and giving him a chance to go off the road and cross the border that way.
* RunForTheBorder
* TooDumbToLive: When pulled over at the roadblock, Jacobs antagonizes a policeman by taking photos of him. [[spoiler:Justified in that he's dying of blood loss, and probably delirious.]]
* TitleDrop: The Driver asks Harvey what is on his film, and he is told that the film contains a powder keg, the story about what is going on in Nuevo Colon.
* WasItReallyWorthIt: While bleeding in the back of the Driver's car, Jacobs ponders his life ([[MarriedToTheJob or lack of it]]) and reflects bitterly that all his photographs have done is sell newspapers.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hostage ]]


The Driver arrives at a small house carrying a BriefcaseFullOfMoney in order to pay the ransom for a CEO who has been kidnapped and hidden away by a deranged former employee. When the hostage taker proceeds to [[DrivenToSuicide shoot himself]] to avoid arrest, the Driver must rely on the handful of clues he was given to locate and rescue the kidnapped woman.

Directed by Creator/JohnWoo, guest-starring Creator/MauryChaykin as The Kidnapper, and Creator/KathrynMorris as Linda Delacroix.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: The ending implies that the hostage is an amoral bitch and the hostage taker is someone she used for sex then dumped unceremoniously. She is visibly distraught when rescued, but when she confronts the hostage taker in the hospital, she smugly mocks him as if she can easily fake emotion.]]
* BadBoss: [[spoiler: The hostage taker's justification for the whole thing.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: One of the rare times that the Driver saves the day ''outside'' his car, jumping into the water and forcing the trunk door open to rescue the hostage.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:The Driver walks out in disgust on seeing Linda taunt her dying kidnapper, who turns out to have been an ex-lover.]]
* BriefcaseFullOfMoney: Turns out, the money isn't important, but the ''amount'' of it is. [[spoiler: It's her phone number, so the Driver can contact her if he's clever enough.]]
* CleanPrettyReliable: A discretion cut keeps us from seeing the inevitable vomiting up water that comes from administering CPR to a near-drowning victim.
* DrivenToSuicide: The hostage taker, via RussianRoulette. [[spoiler: He's later shown to have failed, and be in the hospital.]]
* ExactWords: "How does it feel to hold a person's life [[HumanNotepad in your hand]]."
* InstantDeathBullet: Averted; but [[BreakThemByTalking Linda's final words to him]] are enough to make his monitor {{flatline}}.
* IronicEcho:
-->"I was always the butterfly, and you were always the moth."
* ItDoesntMeanAnything: [[spoiler:The kidnapper talks of just wanting a 'gesture' from the CEO he's kidnapped. At first he looks like a disgruntled employee, but afterwards Linda taunts him with, "It was just sex. You should have let it go at that. I was always the butterfly, and you were always the moth."]]
* KnightInShiningArmor: The Driver is referred to as this -- he's dressed in a white suit and driving a silver BMW.
* LemmingCops: The police think that the Driver is in a stolen car, based on his speeding through the city, and try to catch him, but they are nowhere near his level, and he has a woman to save.
* TheMadHatter: The hostage taker quips, "If I had known it would be this easy I would have lost my mind a long time ago." He also has a RoomFullOfCrazy.
* MissionControl: A pair of FBI agents helping the Driver figure out where the hostage is trapped.
* MoneyToBurn: The hostage taker gets a briefcase of over five million dollars, which he tells the Driver to throw on a lit barbecue grill. Turns out this is the money he figures he was owed; taking into account his salary, bonuses, profit participation, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking power lunches he had to pay for]].
* PoliceAreUseless: Though one imagines they ''could'' have been helpful if the FBI had [[PoorCommunicationKills thought to let them know what was going on]].
* RaceAgainstTheClock: The Driver has to find the car [[PunkInTheTrunk in whose trunk the hostage is locked]] before high tide comes and drowns her.
* RescueRomance: [[spoiler:Averted; the DamselInDistress looks quite grateful to the handsome Driver who saved her life, but after [[BitchInSheepsClothing Linda taunts the dying kidnapper]] she turns around to find he's walked out in disgust.]]
* ShoutOut: [[Film/JerryMaguire "Show me the money."]]
* TakingYouWithMe: The hostage taker burns the money and shoots himself. [[spoiler:However he does give the Driver a chance of rescuing the hostage in time.]]
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ticker ]]


The Driver must evade an attacking helicopter and get a mysterious package his passenger is carrying to its destination. The passenger refuses to explain what is in the briefcase, but insists that the case's safe arrival is more important than his life, and that the fate of an entire nation is at stake.

Directed by Creator/JoeCarnahan, guest-starring Creator/DonCheadle as the Passenger.

* AcrophobicBird: Some bad guys in a helicopter trying ([[ATeamFiring and largely failing]]) to gun down the Driver and the Passenger, leading to the chopper's eventual demise.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: After an army helicopter starts attacking them, the Driver panics and thinks his passenger is carrying a WeaponOfMassDestruction. [[spoiler:It turns out he's carrying a heart for transplant and it's the ''army'' that is evil.]]
* ArcWords: "What is one man's life worth?"
* ArmiesAreEvil: Most, if not all, of the soldiers seen in this episode seem to be working for the EvilChancellor, who is trying to keep the MacGuffin from getting to its destination. The red scarves and berets the soldiers wear indicate they are EliteMooks, presumably the Chancellor's PraetorianGuard as he wears the same uniform.
* BulletSparks
* CarFu: Bad guys in an SUV ram the first vehicle that was carrying the Passenger, gunning down his driver and bodyguard and forcing him to flee into a nearby crop field, pursued by the helicopter.
* ChainedHeat: When it looks like the Driver might baulk at his mission, the man with the HandcuffedBriefcase chains it to the Driver's wrist. "Now drive!"
* DrivingQuestion: What's in the case?
* EvilChancellor: Evidently the unnamed nation's president is the only man keeping the country's far less fettered military commander from seizing control. While he doesn't seem to be going for a KlingonPromotion, he has no problems sending his men to interfere with attempts to keep his boss from dying of natural causes.
* GlassesPull: The Driver yanks off his sunglasses the first time he stops and demands to know what's going on.
* AHandfulForAnEye: The Driver does donuts in the dirt, [[SmokeOut kicking up a huge cloud of dust]] which blinds the helicopter pilot's view, causing them to [[HellishCopter blunder into a nearby bridge]].
* IncrediblyObviousBomb: When the suitcase is damaged a digital gauge starts to beep and count down, much to the alarm of the Driver. [[spoiler:In a subversion, it's actually a temperature gauge.]]
* InMediasRes: The episode opens with the [[PursuedProtagonist Driver and the Passenger]] in a car weaving back-and-forth down the road while bad guys in a helicopter try to shoot them.
* MacGuffin: The briefcase. If it is not delivered on time, with the contents intact, an entire nation will be at the mercy of a military dictator.
* MoodWhiplash: Between the helicopter strafing scenes and flashbacks of the courier accepting the mission.
* PunBasedTitle: [[spoiler:'Ticker' makes it sound like the briefcase holds a time bomb, but it's actually a heart ready for transplant.]]
* RaceAgainstTheClock: With the car running out of fuel and the briefcase's temperature indicator rising, both due to bullet hits.
* TheReveal: What's in the briefcase? [[spoiler: A heart transplant for a troubled nation's dying leader.]]
* ShootTheFuelTank: Averted; the tank is punctured and there's even a VaporTrail, but nothing blows up. The Driver does make it clear he's running out of fuel though.
* SmokeOut: Improvised.
* SpentShellsShower: The film opens with spent shells and bullet impacts raining down on an apparently empty road, before quickly panning up to the strafing helicopter, then down to a car racing ahead of the gunfire.
* StandardHollywoodStrafingProcedure: The gunner in the helicopter sprays the bullets back and forth across the road, yet the car always seems to just slip between the bursts.
* TimeForPlanB: The Driver is actually the backup plan, a second driver standing by in case something happens to the first driver.
* TreacheryCoverUp: As he's failed to stop the suitcase, the President's men tell the EvilChancellor to back off.
-->"[[IWasNeverHere You were not here]]. This never happened. Tell your men to stand down."
* TwoScenesOneDialogue: After his windshield is sprayed with fluid from the mysterious suitcase, the Driver is understandably alarmed; assuming it's a WMD he shouts, "IS IT CHEMICAL? IS IT BIOLOGICAL?" The scene then cuts to the courier apparently answering the same question, put to him by a bodyguard in the first vehicle he used.
-->'''Courier:''' It's neither.
-->'''Bodyguard:''' So what is it then?
-->'''Courier:''' Salvation.
* VaporTrail: Seen as the car drives off after stopping momentarily on the bridge -- the flames don't reach the fuel tank though.
* WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison: After accepting the job of couriering the suitcase on what could well be a suicide mission, the Passenger muses: "What would you fall on your sword for? If not this, then what?"
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Beat the Devil ]]


The Driver has absolutely [[OutOfGenreExperience no idea what he has gotten himself into]]. He accompanies his client, James Brown, for a meeting in a penthouse apartment in Las Vegas, only to learn that their host is evidently the Lord of Darkness, {{Satan}} himself. James Brown makes a wager with the Devil, a drag race down the Las Vegas strip at dawn, James Brown and his Driver versus Satan and his. If the Driver wins, James Brown gets his youth back, and if the Driver loses, Satan gets his soul.

Directed by Creator/TonyScott, guest-starring Creator/GaryOldman as the Devil, Creator/DannyTrejo as Bob, and Music/JamesBrown AsHimself. With a cameo in TheStinger by [[spoiler:Music/MarilynManson.]]

* AgeWithoutYouth: James Brown is getting too old to do his famous James Brown Split, [[LoopholeAbuse so he uses this to argue]] that the Devil hasn't kept his side of the bargain, thus entitling him to a new contract.
* AsHimself: Music/JamesBrown.
* AtTheCrossroads: In a variation, a young James Brown is shown making his DealWithTheDevil where the road intersects a railway track, foreshadowing the GameOfChicken later on. Also the hotel where the older Brown negotiates a new deal is called Crossroads.
* CallingShotgun: In a VisualPun, the Devil (seated next to his driver) starts the race by firing a shotgun out of the sunroof.
* CoolCar: In addition to the Driver's BMW, Satan and Danny Trejo race in a souped up Pontiac Trans Am. Not being made by BMW, it is [[WatchThePaintJob doomed to be destroyed.]]
* DealWithTheDevil: Music/JamesBrown sold his soul for fame and fortune, but wants to renegotiate, based on a [[LoopholeAbuse loophole he found in his contract]]. Knowing the Devil can't resist a wager, he bets the Driver's soul this time (not that the Driver had any say in it).
* FunWithSubtitles: Otherwise we couldn't understand what James Brown is saying.
-->'''Brown:''' I'm [[{{Mondegreen}} Asian Man!]][[note]]I'm aging, man![[/note]]
* GameOfChicken: As they race across the desert, they find a train is approaching the intersection ahead. The Driver puts his foot down and makes it, whereas the Devil chickens out and shouts for his driver to stop, causing a spectacular crash.
* GenreBlind: The Driver doesn't seem to know what the hell is going on, staring slackjawed at the wacky hijinks until things finally move on to the driving.
* GlassesPull: The Driver when (after throwing James Brown out of his car) he sees in his rearview mirror that the Godfather of Soul has suddenly become the Teenager of Soul.
* GotVolunteered: The Driver doesn't exactly have informed consent re risking his soul for Brown's benefit.
* HollywoodGeography: The drag race manages to take our characters past the same two hotels several times before they make it out of Vegas.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: [[spoiler:Music/MarilynManson freaks out even the Devil!]]
* IncomingHam: The Devil comes charging into the room in a blaze of lights and sound, driving a motorized wheelchair.
* InvincibleClassicCar: After getting hit by the train, Satan's Trans Am appears to be in perfect condition, the paint job not even scratched, despite being sent tumbling through the air, evidently propelled [[StuffBlowingUp by an explosion]]. [[AvertedTrope and then it lands upside down and is crushed like a soda can]] [[MadeOfExplodium before exploding.]]
* IronicEcho: Before he goes to negotiate with the Devil, Brown tells the Driver to dismiss anything he hears as "just crazy talk". At the end the Driver throws Brown out of his car, dismissing their contract as "just crazy talk."
* LargeHam: James Brown. And {{Satan}} [[EvilIsHammy even more so]], as played by Creator/GaryOldman.
* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: When Satan learns that the Driver only likes women.
-->'''Satan:''' That's ''terrible!'' [[HomoeroticSubtext You don't know what you're missing!]]
* OhCrap: Satan gets one during the drag race when his car almost collides with a semi-truck. And again when his car ''is'' about to collide with a train.
* OutOfGenreExperience: Besides the MoodWhiplash, this episode has the Driver and James Brown in a drag race against Satan and Danny Trejo in Las Vegas, in a wager for James Brown's youth and the Driver's eternal soul. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.
* StereotypeFlip: In TheStinger: [[spoiler: Music/MarilynManson asks the Devil to turn his music down, because he's trying to read ''The Bible''.]]
* SunglassesAtNight: When Brown first rings his doorbell, Satan repeatedly shouts at him to put his face to the peephole camera, but as Brown is wearing his sunnies in the dark hotel corridor it makes no difference, so Satan gives up and sends Bob to answer the door instead.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Escape ]]


Molecular Genetics, a research lab, has been conducting illegal cloning experiments. With authorities closing in, [=MolGen=] security forces hire The Driver to transport the head of security and a young woman who is referred to only as "Five" and "the Specimen", though she calls herself Lily. Surrounded by a group of heavily armed men and being chased by the FBI and local police, The Driver decides to take matters into his own hands and conclude the situation how he sees fit.

Directed by Creator/NeillBlomkamp, guest-starring Creator/DakotaFanning as Lily, Creator/JonBernthal as Holt, and Creator/VeraFarmiga as Dr. Phillips.

* AcrophobicBird: Justified because Holt orders the helicopter down. Unfortunately Holt [[DidNotThinkThisThrough then attaches the cable hook to the car]]. As he's stopped near an overpass the Driver just puts the car in reverse, throwing Holt off the hood and [[HellishCopter pulling the helicopter down to its destruction]].
* BadassBoast: The Driver is right; he may be rusty but age hasn't diminished his skills.
* BenevolentArchitecture: The Driver uses the highway crash barriers to take out their Hummer escort, and the overpass to destroy the helicopter.
* BoobyTrap: An FBI SWAT team opens a door, not realising there's several packets of C4 explosive rigged on the other side.
* CarFu:
** Hummers are used as crash cars to shoulder aside the pursuing police.
** When Holt has trouble hitting the Driver's car, he decides to PopTheTires on a semi-trailer ahead of him, causing it to flip onto its side and block the road.
* CountingToThree: When the Driver goes OffTheRails, Holt puts a gun to his head and starts counting down. Cue DodgeByBraking whereupon the gun ends up in the Driver's hand.
* DestroyTheEvidence: As the authorities close in, [=MolGen=] employees are shown burning papers and smashing computers. Lily is apparently too valuable to be destroyed, so Holt's job is to get her through the police and FBI cordon surrounding the research lab.
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Averted; Lily keeps a tattered PreciousPhoto of the missing Dr. Philips (the clones' creator) apparently regarding her as a ParentalSubstitute. [[spoiler:It turns out she's JustHiding, and has hired the Driver to bring Lily to her.]]
* EvilWearsBlack: The black-clad mercenaries and their black Hummers contrast with the Driver's silver BMW.
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: The Driver's FacialDialogue shows his disgust at how Holt is treating Lily, his hands flex on the steering wheel...and HesBack!
* FirstTimeInTheSun: Lily has never seen the outside world in person before.
* GetawayDriver: Given that it's the FBI they are escaping from (at least initially).
* GetOut: The Driver to Holt after taking his gun off him. When Holt insists on taking it personally and chases after the Driver, the latter is [[GoodIsNotNice fully prepared to run him down]] until Lily talks him out of it.
* KickTheDog: Holt is unnecessarily cruel towards Lily, [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman treating her as an object]] and throwing away her artwork when he wants her to shut up.
* LampshadeHanging: The script includes a mention of the fourteen-year SequelGap between this short film and the preceding series.
-->'''The Driver:''' I might be a little rusty right now, but I've been doing this for a long time and I'm ''very'' good at it.
* LiveActionEscortMission: Though inverted; the 'package' isn't annoying to anyone except Holt.
* NeverTellMeTheOdds: Regarding the above BadassBoast, Lily points out that it only means his chances of failure increase [[InHarmsWay every time he does this kind of work]]. The Driver takes it philosophically. "The odds will be what the odds will be."
* OnlyICanKillHim: When the gunman in the helicopter says they're going after the Driver, Holt makes the helicopter land and changes places because he wants to kill the Driver himself.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Holt's escort team are a private security force armed with military weaponry.
* PurityPersonified: Lily, apparently due to being raised in a controlled environment. Even though Holt treats her with contempt, she wants his life spared. As appropriate to this trope she has [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold blonde hair]] and InnocentBlueEyes.
* SaveTheVillain: As the Driver prepares to run over an unarmed Holt, Lily asks for mercy. When the Driver chooses to drive away, [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished Holt grabs his rifle]] but misses his shot, and is arrested by the police immediately afterwards.
-->'''Lily:''' Mercy, from old French ''merced''. Kindness, grace, pity.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The Driver.
* SpockSpeak: Lily talks this way, giving dictionary definitions of various words she hears.
-->'''Holt:''' ''(hustling her to the car)'' Goddamn abomination.
-->'''Lily:''' Abomination.
-->'''Holt:''' Get the ''door'', please. ''(shoves her inside)''
-->'''Lily:''' Abomination, from the Latin word ''abominari''. [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman A thing that causes hatred or disgust.]]
* ThemeNaming: The clones were named after flowers. Lily mentions "Tulip", "Daffodil", and "Rose", but never says if there was one between her and them.
* TheReveal: The Driver was [[spoiler: working for Dr. Philips all along]].
* TooDumbToLive: Attacking State ''and'' Federal law enforcement with guns and explosives then later wrecking their vehicles with no means of escape? In public? They're either facing life in prison or the death penalty if they're not shot dead on-sight.
* StrangeSecretEntrance: The FBI are taken by surprise when the convoy exits the warehouse through a door disguised as the wall, with retractable crash barriers.
* YouAreNumberSix: Or in this case, 5. When the 'specimen' insists her name is Lily, Holt chucks her paintings out the window as punishment.
----