Saw this once long time ago and remember being really disappointed. Always liked the books and the character of Travis McGee but Rod Taylor was too old for the part and it just didn't work.
You'd think it would make a good franchise to kick off - big guy and clever friend, boats and sunshine, always a girl or two to be saved. Not violent by today's standards but always genuine baddy to be defeated.
Spoilers...
I just saw it, immediately after reading the novel, and it stuck to the book on most points, with a couple of deviations (for example, in the novel Vangie was Eurasian, and Del wasn't killed). Overall it wasn't a great movie, but one thing was perfect: Taylor's portrayal of Travis McGee. He was thirty-nine when the movie was made, right in the ideal age range, and he embodied McGee better than I can imagine any other actor of his time. There's certainly nobody today who could even come close. It's a shame he couldn't have continued playing McGee in a series of movies based on the books.