Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Lightning (1995 TV Movie) User Reviews

Good book gone bad

[misslu · 10 February 2001]

The often excellent Randy Quaid is horribly miscast as Steve Carella - which really brings the production to a deadly pace. By putting Ed McBain's name in the title, fans of the books expect to see the characters that they are familiar with. The loving and long term marriage of Steve and Teddy Carella hasn't occurred yet - in fact, this is where they meet. It is unfortunate that they have no chemistry in the movie. They tried to cram too much history into one movie. Audiences accept a cop being married, whether they know the character or not.

A Review for Non-Readers of Ed McBain

[shiannedog · 7/10 · 26 June 2021]

Being unacquainted with the writing of Ed McBain I came into this movie unbiased and open minded. I found it to be pleasantly intriguing and very well acted. The music is sultry and the plot is well written with only one flawed scene. That is how could they fail to get a cop, any cop, to the restaurant in time to make the arrest. This scene should have been reworked to be more believable. The acting of Randy Quaid is superb. Alex McArthur as Bert Kling was not so great as he seemed too quick with his lines. Everyone else did very well. This is one of those movies you can really enjoy on a cozy and rainy night. 6.9/10.

Sheet Lightning - As they say in Spanish Harlem

[writers_reign · 1 January 2012]

This is a complete travesty to fans of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels. As a run-of-the-mill cop show it's okay I guess but by 1995 McBain had been writing about the 87th for 39 years and a nucleus established in 1956 with Cop Killer, was subtly embellished over the years until readers were as familiar with the cops, crooks, informers, of Isola as they were with their own neighborhoods. One gasps in awe at stupid and ridiculous errors - for example Bert Kling (who represents the WASP, in the ethnic mix that make up the 87th) is clearly described by McBain as BLONDE yet here we are introduced to a dark-haired Kling; by the time Lightning hit the stands Carella and Teddy had been married for a quarter of a century and were the parents of teen-age twins, yet here they meet for the first time. Given these essential mistakes only a non-McBain reader could possibly enjoy this movie - and that's before I add my voice to the two others here who have already remarked on Randy Quaid's TOTAL miscasting as Steve Carella. I'm not sure who this is aimed at but it sure ain't me.

Randy Quaid is not cut out for the role of the inspector Steve.

[lionel.willoquet · 21 June 2001]

The hunt for a serial killer who targets young running champions.

A perfectly oiled thriller – which is not surprising when one knows that it is adapted from a short story by Ed McBain. Only notice : one recognises badly the inspector Steve under Randy Quaid's.