WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Horizon: An American Saga.
Kevin Costner’s film passion project “Horizon: An American Saga” was pulled from HBO on Friday after abysmal performance at the box office, and it’s clear why the first film in the series wasn’t a hit in theaters, but it’s probably not for the reason you might think.
Horizon: An American Saga isn’t a good movie, but it probably made for one of the greatest TV series in the history of entertainment. The first part of what was meant to be a four-part series is three hours long and depicts Costner’s vision of the old west in a way we haven’t seen since the dawn of cinema.
For an old guy like me, the long exterior shots of pristine American landscapes are stunning and well worth your time, unless you’re in a theater. The fact that anyone involved in the making of this film thought they could get a large audience to sit in a filthy movie theater for three hours shows how unrealistic, or vanity-driven, this project was from the start. But the overall story, acting, and premise are well done. Well, they’re well done.
At the heart of the story is the lie of Horizon, a non-existent town in the heart of Apache territory, where those who enter in pursuit of the American Dream meet the same violent fate. At the same time, we meet the Sykes family of Montana, whose world is thrown into chaos when the patriarch is shot (but survives) by his mistress, who flees to Wyoming with their young son.
Through these stories, all segments of the pioneer population are introduced, including people who appeared in Costner’s previous TV series, “Yellowstone.” (Related: Kevin Costner’s Horizon is a Surprise Comeback. Did he screw it up?)
Had Costner cut about 50 percent of “Horizon,” including the storyline between his character and the Sykes family, and focused on Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Luke Wilson, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, and the rest of the incredible Native American cast that makes up the true journey west, “Horizon” might have been a successful film, but it had too many actors and cast members to be a successful modern film with audiences, and the ending was just downright terrible.
Instead of a conclusion, we are suddenly thrown from this state of total escapism into a jarring montage that is presumably the rest of the film, which may leave some viewers wanting more, only to be disappointed.
LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 24: Tatanka Means arrives at the U.S. premiere of Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One at the Regency Village Theatre on June 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: Writer, director and producer Kevin Costner attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 at the Regency Village Theatre on June 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Warner Bros.)
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 19: Jena Malone, Georgia McPhail, Sienna Miller and Wasse Chief attend the “Horizon: An American Saga” red carpet during the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on May 19, 2024. (Photo by Mark Piasecki/FilmMagic)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: (From left) Jeff Fahey, James Landry Hebert, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, and Sam Worthington attend the Los Angeles Premiere of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 at the Regency Village Theatre on June 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Warner Bros.)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: Cast members attend the Los Angeles Premiere of ‘Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One’ held at the Regency Village Theatre on June 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Warner Bros.)
Ultimately, this first chapter of “Horizon” sets up a great ensemble storyline but feels more like an introduction than a substantial film: we meet so many different people, each with their own contribution to the westward journey, and yet there’s a natural path for their stories to intertwine as the series continues. (RELATED: Sources say Kevin Costner is delighted that ‘Yellowstone’ wouldn’t work without “his genius.”)
Like Taylor Sheridan’s story, many of the most affluent characters we meet in Horizon are dead before the end credits roll. Outside of his own characters, Costner wrote a great script with John Baird. It will be interesting to see where they go with Chapter 2. Now that he can watch it at his own pace, maybe Costner can bounce back from the dismal first part of Horizon.
If you have basically no distractions for the entire day, I highly recommend watching “Horizon” and making your own decision: is the film great, or is it merely a throwback to an era of cinematic history that is well beyond modern audiences?
