Summary
Early reviews for the first chapter of Kevin Costner’s long-gestating passion projectHorizon: An American Sagahave skewed sharply negative, which doesn’t bode well for the continuation of the traditional Western epic.Horizon’s interconnected story will be split into four parts, and is an ambitious chronicle of the American expansion into the West before, during, and after the Civil War. It features a sprawling cast of characters who traverse the territories that will someday become Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana. Unfortunately for the Academy Award winner,Horizondebuted to one of the worst Rotten Tomatoes scoresof Costner’s career.
Given how much ofhis own money Costner has sunk into the project, the four-part epic represents an incredible gamble, and poor early reviews won’t help buoyChapter 1’s box office outlook. While the first two chapters are already filmed and will be released back-to-back, the production of the planned third and fourth chapters likely hinges on the success of the first two.Horizonmarks the fourth time that Costner has been in the director’s chair, and so far there are several common reasons why critics haven’t embracedHorizon: An American Saga.
Horizon: An American Saga Footage Highlights Massive Scale Of Kevin Costner’s Western Epic At CinemaCon
Footage of Horizon: An American Saga has been shown at CinemaCon, revealing more of what to expect from Kevin Costner’s Western epic.
8Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Is Overly Long
The movie’s runtime is over three hours
While it’s not unusual for large-scale stories to be split into multiple movies, critics have taken issue with the runtime forHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1. Per Costner’s own assessment, the entirety of the grandHorizon: An American Saganarrative will unfold over the course of 12 hours of runtime, and with only four chapters, each movie will need to average around three hours. That holds true forHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1,which clocked in with 181 minutes of runtime.
With as many story lines and characters as there are inHorizon, it seems likely that just over three hours may even be on the lower side for runtime.
Unfortunately, critics seem to agree that it feels even longer. Nicholas Barber of theBBCreferred to the film as a “three-hour slog” in his review, further noting that the movie was “full of stultifyingly slow dialogue scenes.” His thoughts were shared with many of the early reviewers, as the near-unanimous sentiment is thatthe level of engagement in the film simply doesn’t align with the colossal runtime. With as many story lines and characters as there are inHorizon, it seems likely that just over three hours may even be on the lower side for runtime.
7Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Only Focuses On Setting Up The Next Chapters
Many characters and locations are introduced with no follow-up
Almost across the board, early reviewers ofHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1criticized the movie for not seeing any actual resolution for the many characters and storiesthat are introduced. Again, it’s not uncommon for stories to be told over the course of multiple movies, but the general understanding is that each movie provides a satisfying stand-alone structure and plot. That appears not to be the case for Costner’s epic, as critics were displeased by the fact that the movie doesn’t seem to have an interest in doing much more than acting as a prologue for the remaining chapters.
Owen Gleiberman ofVanity Fairsummarized the detached nature ofChapter 1:
Instead of unfurling a Western saga in a solid powerful arc, Costner serves up three hours of anecdotes, cross-cutting among groups of characters, dropping in on situations that are dropped just as quickly, taking a skittery overview of life on the range, and asking the audience, in many cases, to stitch together the backstory of what they’re seeing.
With a massive ensemble cast and many story lines that take place over a span of years, any stand-alone movie would struggle to feel cohesive, hence Costner’s four-movie plan. Unfortunately, just because the overall story is far longer doesn’t mean it’s permissible forHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1to act as no more than an exposition machine. Ideally, the stories introduced inChapter 1will all be resolved and concluded in the coming chapters, butthe disjointed introduction to the larger world ofHorizonis a red flag.
6Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Doesn’t Feel Like a Movie
It aligns more with a TV series than a feature film
The sheer scope of the overarching story being told, along with the massive cast and varied settings, have led to a common thought among early reviewers: thatthis would work much better as a TV series than as a series of feature films. Ryan Lattanzio ofIndieWiredescribed it bluntly as, “a quote-unquote sweeping American saga that feels like an expensive miniseries compressed into feature form.” The fact that so many different characters and plot threads are introduced all at once recalls the early episodes of prestige dramas likeGame of ThronesorWestworld.
Unfortunately, when that occurs over the course of three hours instead of a compact 54 minutes of episodic television, it becomes jarring and unpleasant.Horizon: An American Sagaseems to be following four “major” threads, but judging by critic reactionsthere isn’t enough time spent with any of those threads to establish the plotor characters effectively. In that way,Horizonends up feeling more like episode 1 of a massive show about to unfurl across 7+ episodes, and maybe 4-5 seasons, like thehit dramaYellowstonethat Costner left. That’s not the desired effect for a three-hour theatrical experience.
5Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Lacks Story Structure
Basic structure is eschewed in favor of character introductions
As little more than a stilted avalanche of character and location introductions,Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1supposedly lacks anything representing a cohesive story in the traditional sense. By continually marching out new plots and people,Chapter 1punts on the concept of story structure; it has no beginning, middle, climax, or endbecause all the different threads finish a sort of cliffhanger, knowing that there is at least one more movie to come in which they’ll be resolved. Again, this works for the pilot of an episodic television show or miniseries, but it doesn’t work for a feature film.
Kevin Costner has been responsible for some truly great Westerns as an actor, producer, and director.
Chase Hutchinson ofCollidernoted that, “there is very little thematically or narratively connecting characters, making it feel like more of an anthology that’s been haphazardly stitched together.” Kevin Costner has been responsible for some truly great Westerns as an actor, producer, and director, butthe hallmarks of those movies were well-written characters and engaging plots. That was specifically the case for hissmash hitDances with Wolves, but it doesn’t seem likely forHorizon: An American Saga, if early reviews are to be believed.
4Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1’s Characters Lack Depth
Somehow, despite the movie exclusively focusing on character introductions as opposed to an engaging central story,Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1still fails to actually flesh out any of the characters. The movie’s habit of flitting from scene to sceneleaves no time for actual character development despite the lengthy runtime, and therefore the movie is left with few characters to actually get invested in. Without building characters that an audience cares about, there is very little appeal to seeing what happens inChapter 2.
Robert Daniels ofRogerEbert.comput an exclamation point on the notion thatHorizondoes a poor job of building its characters: “It gives us few memorable characters outside of Costner: I can’t remember the name of a single figure without looking at my notes.” It’s a severe misstep to not pay proper attention to any of the characters who are supposed to carry the narrative. It seems pretty clear that Costner would have benefited from perhaps cutting out some of the lesser characters and plot threads in favor of fully fleshing out the ones that truly matter.
1 Horizon Scene Proves Kevin Costner’s Character Isn’t Just Yellowstone’s John Dutton With A Mustache
A moment in the Horizon: An American Saga trailer should ease worries that Kevin Costner’s character will be exactly like John Dutton in Yellowstone.
3Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Is Boring
It brings nothing new to the Western genre
Another common thread among early reviews is the lack of anything memorable inHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1. When he first envisionedHorizonin 1988,Costner wanted to be very deliberate about creating a traditional Western, and by all accounts he’s at least hit many of the notes that audiences would expect from a traditional Western. Unfortunately, that leaves little room for anything unique or original, and the movie suffers from a lack of excitement because of it.
As Hoai-TranBui ofInverseput it, “…every magnificent vista and each swooningly romantic moment can’t make up for the fact that Horizon is excruciatingly dull.” While nobody was expecting Kevin Costner to challenge Jeymes Samuel’sThe Harder They Fallwith something that revolutionized the Western genre, there is something to be said for challenging the status quo. Judging by early reviews,Costner was content to hit all the most familiar notes, and when combined with the lack of an engaging story, the end result is a movie that’s outright boring.
2Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Is Low On Action
One of the hallmarks of a traditional Western is the Western action; horse chases, gunfights, shootouts, and train robberies are as much a part of the Western aesthetic as deserts, arid mountains, and saloons. Unfortunately, it seems as though in the rush to introduce all the characters who will play a role in the overarchingHorizonsaga, the action fell by the wayside. As Gregory Ellwood ofThe Playlistopined, “To be frank, there aren’t many standout cinematic moments in Horizon.”
One of the most oft-praised scenes from the early reviews is the film’s opening, which includes an Apache attack on the blossoming Horizon settlement. It received praise for how it was shot and its intensity, but as Ellwood further noted, “…in many ways, this extended sequence teases what the movie might have been.“Costner didn’t lean into some of the most exciting aspects of Westerns, and why they always have and likely will always appeal to American moviegoers. The movie evidently suffers for it.
1Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Doesn’t Develop The Indigenous Perspective Well
With Martin Scorsese’sKillers of the Flower Moondominating last year’s Cannes Film Festival,Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1had a direct comparison to look at when it debuted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately, early reviewers seem pretty unified in the fact thatCostner came up short in properly establishing the perspective of the Indigenous tribesduring the time of the American expansion. That’s not to say it completely returns to the spaghetti Western style of the 1960s in its handling of the sensitive topic, but it isn’t a resounding success, either.
To be clear, there are attempts made by white characters toexplain the justified motivations of the Indigenous tribes that war with the settlers. Unfortunately, that comes well after the aforementioned early scene that depicts Native American warriors massacring a settlement of mostly white people. Esther Zuckerman ofThe Daily Beastdescribed the attack, saying, “…the Native American assailants are shadowy figures who attack unprovoked. There are nods to nuance that come later, but far too little in the first part of Costner’s passion project…”
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1introduces a plot thread from the perspective of an Indigenous tribe, but critics seem to agree that it isn’t given the proper weight. If more attention is given to that perspective inChapter 2, it could be a positive step in trulytelling two sides of the story of American expansion in the Old West. However, as with most of the criticisms ofHorizon: An American Saga, movies shouldn’t be made that rely completely on a second chapter for the story to be understood and appreciated, especially when the movie is three hours long.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
Cast
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is set in 1859, following families as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. The narrative centers around a cowboy on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after a deadly confrontation, exploring the challenges of life in the Old West.
