If any type of film is made for the big screen, it is the Western. While the genre is far from its heyday of the 40’s and 50’s (and some of the 60s), respect for “oaters” still lives in the hearts of many connoisseurs. Kevin Costner has long proven himself a disciple of the American Western, showing his love for the genre with his Academy Award winning classic, Dances With Wolves and 2003’s Open Range. The actor’s skill as a filmmaker is imbued with a classic storytelling style. The man knows how to use his frame to tell a tale, while assuring his characters will never become lost in the grandeur of it all. Guided by the ghosts of John Ford and Howard Hawks, Costner has delivered the first segment of his four-part Western epic, Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1. 

In today’s unadventurous Hollywood, it is only stars such as Kevin Costner who carry the weight to receive big studio budgets for a Western, assuring them a major theatrical release. The studios (such as they are today) are rarely interested in Western movies. Even the great Walter Hill (a director who excels in the genre) has a tough time getting budgets for his cowboy pictures. His last, Dollar For the Dead, had its production budget slashed to almost nothing, making the picture look cheap. Over the past 10 years, the genre has been unfairly relegated to On Demand and streaming service releases, a true shame. The Western deserves a big canvas. 

Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1 is a saga indeed. This is a sprawling film that tells the story of the expansion of the American West. While the first film is certainly a “setting it all up” chapter (introducing the massive cast of characters and setting future plot lines in motion), it doesn’t take away from its impact. Costner’s third Western is extremely well-written and directed with respect for old Hollywood and the directors that influenced this film. 

The picture begins in 1859, as we find homesteaders making their mark on the land they have purchased in Arizona’s San Pedro Valley. They were not informed of their settlement being on Apache land. “Horizon” is the future town they set out to build, so named to represent the wide vision of the pioneers as they search for the American dream; one immediately shattered by an attack from a band of Native-Americans, led by Pionsenay (Owen Crow Shoe). 

The screenplay (from Costner, Jon Baird, and Mark Kasdan) doesn’t cast the Indigenous people as villains. Kevin Costner is too respectful and times have rightfully changed. Pionsenay’s attack isn’t met with celebration when he and his warriors return to their tribe. As the Apache Chief Tuayeseh (Gregory Cruz) scolds Pionsenay, he foresees the ramifications of the young man’s actions, “The men are gone. But… thousands more will come.” Tuayeseh has the wisdom to know what is coming and, no matter the battles that will ensue, understands the dangers to his people. In his eyes you can see a strong man who is prepared for a war he and his people cannot win. These moments show both sides of the Native American struggle once the “white-eye” invades their country. The anger that explodes into bloodshed is respectfully represented, as well as the reality that attacking the White man will endanger the Indigenous way of life and put an end to the freedom of heir sacred lands. There is cultural sensitivity shown, but the film does not shy away from the reality of the violence that erupts when one’s way of life is threatened. 

Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller, in a beautiful performance) and her daughter Elizabeth (Georgia MacPhail, equally as good) are the two survivors of the attack. Frances’ husband James (Tim Guinee) and son Nate (Hayes Costner, Kevin’s boy) went down fighting. The United States Cavalry arrives the next day and helps bury the dead. Lieutenant Trent Gephart (Sam Worthington) and his Sergeant Major (a wonderful Michael Rooker in the type of role Victor McLaglen would play for John Ford) escort the ladies back to their fort, run by Colonel Houghton (the great Danny Huston, delivering some of the film’s best lines). 

Meanwhile, in the Montana Territory, Ellen (a strong Jena Malone) shoots a man and runs away with a baby; the reason for this is later revealed. Dale Dickey’s rugged Mrs. Sykes sends her mean-as-a-snake sons (played by Jamie Campbell Bower and Jon Beavers) to retrieve Ellen and the child. It is this plot thread that gets a bit confusing. While it is eventually explained, the link to the shooting is handled a bit clumsily, but Malone is so good that her story holds interest and will hopefully expand in the next chapter. 

Moving on a few years, we meet Hayes Ellison (Costner), a horse trader and gunman who rides into a small Wyoming town. Wanting to just sell his horses and get a good night’s sleep, Hayes meets Marigold (Abbey Lee), the film’s least interesting creation. Theirs is a chance encounter that will bring both characters deeper ointo the violence of the American West, something the rugged Hayes knows too well.

The film also introduces Luke Wilson’s Matthew Van Weyden as he leads a wagon train on the Santa Fe Trail through Kansas. This sequence holds some tense moments and very good work from Wilson. Weyden has his hands full, as the burning Kansas heat is causing the wagon wheels to break. His biggest saddle sore is a “proper” British couple (Ella Hunt and Tom Payne) who use the drinking water to bathe and refuse to help with any laborious tasks. The great Will Patton enters as a father taking his family to the West while seemingly acting as Weyden’s only friend.

Horizon is a film loaded with plot and people, but it is not bloated. The best Western filmmakers (Peckinpah, Ford, Hawks, etc.) filled their works with memorable characters that gave life to the stories they told. As co-writer and director, Kevin Costner continues in their footsteps. While a few plot threads are left dangling, the film is bursting with character and plays out like an epic novel. 

It has been years since screens have been filled with a true cinematic spectacle. Costner directs the hell out of this piece and uses the beauty of the mesas and mountains to paint the backdrop of multiple destinies. The scope is huge, yet the story is richly textured. J. Michael Muro’s camera captures the stunning beauty of the Southern Utah locations. From the snows of the Montana territory to the heat of the Santa Fe Trail, Muro’s cinematography is breathtaking and finds a symmetry with William H. Clothier’s work in the Western genre. 

John Debney’s score isn’t as sweeping as it could be, but it is nice to hear full orchestra compositions in a major film. 

By the time this thunderous motion picture comes to an end, Costner and company have given us an involving, authentic, and beautifully crafted Western saga. Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1 is a loving and respectful throwback to the horse operas of yesteryear. With the genre on life support for decades, there is no one riding a harder trail to keep the Western alive than Kevin Costner.

Let’s keep him in the saddle.

Horizon

Written by John Baird. Mark Kasdan, & Kevin Costner

Directed by Kevin Costner

R, 181 Minutes, New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers, territory Pictures Entertainment