Summary
- Kevin Costner’s ambitious film series,
Horizon: An American Saga
, tackles US history’s controversies and poignant moments in epic Western films. - Horizon
has been labeled disappointing and underwhelming, with some arguing it would work better as a TV series. - A series format would allow for more character development and nuanced storytelling, as seen in the successful
Yellowstone
franchise.
“Ambitious” is probably a word that’s being used too loosely when it comes to Kevin Costner’s new movie series, Horizon: An American Saga. From being planned as a huge interconnected story that spans a lengthy period and covers some of the most poignant times in US history, it also plans to tackle some of its most controversial legacies head-on. Depicting sweeping narratives, with each part done as an epic Western film, Costner isn’t shying away from the daunting project despite the drama encircling his personal life and recent divorce that all played out very publicly.
Instead, the multi-award-winning veteran star has co-written the film series, already starred in, directed, and produced the first part himself, and plans to do the same for the remaining three films, too. He initially seemed to have gotten off to the best possible start, with an early screening of the film at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival resulting in an 11-minute standing ovation that left him in tears as he delivered a moving speech to the audience afterward.
However, as beautiful as it was to see a truly fantastic actor and filmmaker receive his due appreciation for all he’s given audiences over the years, it only lasted as long as it took for the first reviews to come in. After those early reviews were released, many have labeled Horizon disappointing or underwhelming. While no one is saying it was poorly made, there’s a growing sentiment among audiences and even some reviewers that the film and the project shouldn’t have been a film saga. Let’s explore some of the reasons why Horizon: An American Saga might have worked better as a TV series.
Is Horizon: An American Saga Too Ambitious?
Given all of Kevin Costner’s immense success over the years as an actor and a director, especially in Westerns, many anticipated that Horizon would be the magnum opus to his body of work in the genre. However, the latest feature film he takes on from behind the lens has big shoes to fill. After all, his return to directing Westerns comes amid the legacy of his work on Dances with Wolves, a film that took home seven Academy Awards, amid 12 nominations, including a win for Best Picture, with Costner being nominated that year for Best Actor and winning the award for Best Director.
Related
Kevin Costner Reveals How He So Successfully & Unapologetically Makes ‘Movies for Men’
Horizon star Kevin Costner explains the surprising way he makes such successful “movies for men.”
Aside from starring in many other Western films, while arguably none reached the same acclaim as Dances with Wolves, Costner would later again be the toast of the genre for his incredible work on the Yellowstone franchise. While things may have ended unceremoniously with that project, what the franchise did was firmly place Costner back in contention as one of the greatest Western actors there’s ever been.
With Horizon reminding us that he’s also a notable filmmaker in the genre, sadly, the weight of his own achievements has caused many to wonder if he may have bitten off too much this time. Horizon is bold and certainly has some noble ideals since it seeks to correct the historical legacy of the USA — one that has grown to be much-maligned for how it’s often perceived as a sugarcoated version that glorifies white conquest while brushing aside the darker sides of that story. While Costner unselfishly tries to realign the tale with reality and has shown a type of directorial bravery with his choices, many believe the overall scope of what he needs to cover in the saga is too ambitious, even for four epic films.
Will the Current Horizon Format Be Able to Do the Full Story Justice?
Given the scope of the saga, many commentators and reviewers have been comparing it to Francis Ford Coppola’s epic sci-fi film, Megalopolis, which screened in competition at Cannes in 2024. Horizon is already a three-hour film and has three more parts to it. It will encompass an enormous cast of characters that’s already seen the likes of Kevin Costner himself, Sienna Miller, and Sam Worthington take part in it. However, despite its grand scale and slow burn, many are still wondering if the overall project will be enough to do the subjects and historical legacies it tackles justice.
With the significance of the story it wants to tell, it certainly needs a coherent approach or runs the risk of losing its punch over time, especially if it can’t stick to release plans, ends up being delayed, or becomes disjointed in any way over time. It also needs to cover many significant stories and historical realities that have been altered, covered up, or ignored by history for too long. Its sweeping nature means it will encompass both sides of the Civil War, among many other significant periods and conflicts in American history.
Between the horrific parts of history that saw the decimation of many indigenous tribes, the treatment of Chinese railroad workers, and, of course, the nightmarish history of slavery in America, Horizon has some pretty sensitive and deep stories to tell. When the complexities and nuances of these periods are considered, plus the perfectly welcome telling of the resilience of the settlers too, it’s suddenly pretty clear that a series may have been the better option since each of these legacies could have been properly fleshed out over entire seasons to do some true justice to just how much of an impact they each had on shaping the nation as it exists today.
We’ve Already Seen How Good the Yellowstone Saga Is
Regardless of how sweeping the scope of Horizon’s timelines and characters are, there’s another compelling argument for why it should have been a series. We already know from the Yellowstone franchise just how fantastic a series it could be. After all, those shows have done the same thing, mostly revolving around the core of one family.
However, with the spin-offs 1883, 1923, and others planned, it now also spans multiple decades and generations, encapsulating many characters, stories, and poignant moments along the way. However, the fact that it was all drawn out in this manner also never made it feel like anything significant was left out or rushed, with plenty of character development made possible by its format.
Yellowstone provides a perfect template for how good Horizon could be as a multi-season series. With Costner’s practiced hand as a Western actor and being the kind of restrained director a story of this nature deserves, there are many reasons why Horizon: An American Saga could have been a series — and an exceptional one at that! Here’s a bit of what the famed Roger Ebert site had to say about the film in its review:
“Horizon” isn’t trying to subvert the Western, relying on many well-worn tropes. It’s also a slow build of intersecting stories that takes so long to get going that Costner doesn’t even appear on screen until an hour in. Instead the first third of “Horizon” is merely a long preamble, a structural decision indicative of a film grinding and failing to prove itself as a standalone feature. The sizzle reel that ends Chapter One, in fact, featuring a library of clips and characters for future movies, does well to tease the kind of high-motoring film we could get but don’t necessarily find here.
Watch the trailer for Horizon below, and see the film in theaters. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 hits theaters on Aug. 16, 2024.
