Travis McGee (1983) watch online HD

Where is the Busted Flush? Where is Miss Agnes? Where is Florida?!?

Caught this movie on Starz's Mystery channel, and was really excited about it. I figured I'd never get an opportunity to watch either of the two McGee movies, since they were made for TV and were never on video. But I got to see this one, and was disappointed.

It's not that they got the story wrong, the plot came directly from the book. It's been years since I read "The Empty Copper Sea" but the plot sequences came right back to me, they were perfectly recreated. It's also not that I disliked Sam Elliot as Trav, I'm a big fan of his, and did a great job in the role. I could even excuse the mustache that Trav doesn't have (if you've seen "the Contender", you know that Sam Elliot looks downright foolish without the mustache).

It's the things I mentioned in the first line that really bugged me. Another one is Meyer, this guy was not him. Not at all. The reason I sat down to watch this movie was not to see the plot on screen. I read the book, I knew the plot, and it was kinda slow for a screen story anyway. The reason I wanted to watch this movie was to see the Busted Flush itself out on the water. I wanted to see the Florida coastline, I wanted to see slip F-18, I wanted to see that mangled blue Rolls Royce pick up truck Miss Agnes.

I don't know why they inexplicably decided to move the story to California. I guess California was in style, and Florida was out. This was the year before Miami Vice came out, so Miami wasn't cool yet. Who knows. Maybe also it was a budget thing, shooting near LA was cheaper for them. That could also explain the lack of the Busted Flush and Miss Agnes, too expensive to recreate those things as the book describes them.

All in all though, a fine adaptation of the plot of the book, just not a good adaptation of the world of the book/books. Light on the details that are so memorable, and a little light on the social commentary that made McGee so special.

This is an adventure movie from the early 80's, not fabulous, but it stands on its own merits. Sam Elliott is believable, ruggedly handsome and sexy as the key player, and Katherine Ross looks the best I ever saw her ( that translates into beautiful for men, I think). The rest of the cast fades into the background against their beauty together. Add gorgeous scenery and a glorious sea and it is a delicious movie. Nothing too much of anything, just enough of it all to be enjoyable.

However, the real reason to watch "Travis McGee" as now showing on cable and satellite on the Mystery Channel is to discover...Travis McGee!! You see, Travis is much more than a movie character aptly and sexily played by Sam Elliottt. He is the protagonist of 21 wonderful books written by the late author, John D. McDonald. The book series started in the early 60's ( before most of us were even born) and ended only with the author's death in the late 80's. Each book stands on its own, just as this movie does, but as a collective work, the series is the story of OUR society in the US, as seen through the eyes of a playboy/hero.

Not only do we see Travis ( Sam Elliott) performing his magic with the ladies and his brilliant BS with the men, we get an idea of what it would be like to live in a simpler life, the life Travis chose on his boat. He was a rebel against credit cards, phone records, beaurocrats in general,and the despoiling of natural beauty along the coastline of Florida, specifically.

There actually is a slip at Bahia Mar, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, F-18, known to all Travis fans as HIS slip for the Busted Flush ( his beloved houseboat)... It sits empty in Ft. Lauderdale, a memorial to a man who touched so many lives, yet never was.If you are ever in the area, check it out. With the price of large boat slips in the area, it is a fit testimony to the power of the written words of John D. McDonald, and his ability to make you believe that Travis will come floating by with a sexy white gleaming smile in deepwater tan smile for us all.

Watch the movie for the enjoyment, then read the books for the JOY!

***NOTE: SPOILER AHEAD*** (unless you've read the book.) In John D. MacDonald's 21-book "Travis McGee" series, "The Empty Copper Sea" is a standout: up to this point, the books could more or less be read as the reader happened to encounter them. But, by "Copper," John D. had come to realize that "his people" were following the books as a chronological series, with the characters learning and growing--and, in McGee's case, moving into a wonderfully-described, full-blown midlife crisis. So, from "Copper" onward, the books read like chapters, with events in one leading to consequences in the next. For me--and I'm one of those McDonald afficionados who periodically rereads the 21 McGees in order--"Copper" is the best of a very fine lot.

Which is why I wish it had led to a better movie. Certain elements showed promise: the wonderful choice of Andrew V. McLaglen ("Shenandoah," "The Wild Geese") to direct, and the inspired casting of Katharine Ross as the extraordinary heroine, Gretel Tuckerman Howard. Other elements, though, led the adaptation astray:

Location: One one other McGee novel made it to celluloid, "Darker Than Amber." While it wasn't a marvelous adaptation, it tried for the most part to be faithful to John D.'s characters and settings. Thus, "knight-errant" Travis McGee was shown on his barge-type houseboat, "The Busted Flush," moored at the Bahia Mar marina in Fort Lauderdale. The makers of "Copper," on the other hand, inexplicably tunred the Flush into a sailboat--and home-ported it in California!

Leads: Again, "Amber" wasn't perfect, but it tried hard in its casting: Rod Taylor wasn't too far off as McGee, probably a little stockier--but he can go from a look of bovine incomprehension to seething anger quickly, McGee's trademark. And as McGee's confidant, the hairy, gentle economist Meyer, Theodore Bikel wasn't dead-on, but he wasn't bad. "Copper," conversely, gives us the (then) heavily mustachioed and debonair Sam Elliot as McGee--far too close to the traditional dashing hero--and rough, gruff Gene Evans is hopelessly miscast as Meyer!

Supporting: As mentioned, Katharine Ross personified Gretel, while Richard Farnsworth is certainly appropriate as McGee's "client," Van Harder. But--SPOILER HERE--the pivotal role of Gretel's brother, John Tuckerman, goes sadly awry. McDonald describes Tuckerman as a "Clark Gable gone seriously to seed." The character gradually exhibits symptoms of derangement that eventually lead to the story's climax. "Copper" gives us in this part Geoffrey Lewis, a talented actor but no Gable type--in fact, he's known for portraying crazies; thus, the "unfolding surprise" of Tuckerman's derangement is lost, as he appears to be ga-ga from the get-go. (Same thing happened in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining": the lead, in King's book, is a man under stress who gradually goes bonkers; by casting Jack Nicholson, fresh off his role in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Kubrick short-circuits the entire character development.)

Summary: Fans of John D. MacDonald and Travis McGee will find a game but flawed attempt at an adaptation; those unfamiliar with John D. and Trav will encounter an unobjectionable mystery-suspense film.

I loved the chemistry with Sam Elliott and his wife,Katherine Ross.But the performance that gets overlooked,which I remember,and would like to have a copy of,is Vera Miles,as the discarded wife (widow,which we find out).She underplays and her interaction with Travis McGee,(Sam Elliott) is so skilled coming from a veteran leading lady.I loved how she ironically summed up her marriage, and her role in the missing husband's life with no pity or bitterness. This must have been one of her last acting roles.You never hear anything about her.Although,I think she is still alive. I believe, I saw that she might live in retirement in Florida -(don't quote me,just a rumor.)How could I get a copy of this?