'Horizon: An American Saga' Part 1 Review: Kevin Costner's Epic Western Is Mostly Great

Early reviews along with Rotten Tomatoes scoring were very inaccurate. This HORIZON Chaptet 1 effort, by Kevin Costner was nothing short of spectacular!!! This is grand, sweeping, moving, emotional, beautiful and truly powerful. Not sure how Kevin could've done better. This was the most realistic western/old west movie ever put on film. The wardrobe of the white men and the Native Indian clans looked flawless. The period-correct wagons and town layouts were amazing. Where did he get all this old vintage stuff to make this movie??? Incredible! This is 7 to 10 Academy Awards worthy. Doubt it will get there but it is deserving of this attention. Nobody has ever made a western this awesome before, and it's only part 1. GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! Truly a work of art. Kevin did extraordinary with this work. Best Director Category for sure. Absolutely brilliant film making! I was pushed to my emotional limits several times in this movie. This work will gain attention by word of mouth. Best movie of 2024, guaranteed!

My sister walked out of the film even before Costner's character showed up... I stayed with the film and was entranced until the end... looking forward to part two of the saga.

I think it is brave to make this in chapter form, the story would not fit into a three hour movie. Most historical movies get a justified rap as being to simplistic. Does anyone reading a book, read the first chapter and say, well I don’t know how it ends I am out? I thought it was better than 90% of trash coming out of Hollywood, and probably will go see it again just to support the effort.

KEVIN COSTNER IS BRILLIANT AND ALWAYS PAYS ATTENTION TO DETAILS WITH DIFFERENT STORYLINES!!

Great epic movie with a great cast. Can’t wait til August.

I just loved it, and was riveted the entire three hours. Must be seen on the big screen. Looking forward to Part 2 and hopeful for the rest.

John Wayne's real name is Marian Morrison. They could have named you Morrison Kain.

I’m not sure why I hadn’t heard about Horizon before it released. I love, big, epic Westerns like this (How the West Was Won, or even Heaven’s Gate). It’s also great to see a film that’s trying to do something new and taking a risk rather sticking with the boring paint-by-numbers franchise model. It’s just a shame that the box office has been so disappointing.

Great review! I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Beautiful shots, fantastic acting, and palpable action. The way I see it is, this first part makes more sense if you realise that the main character of the film is the land itself, the horizon that they're all chasing. I did think the montage was weird and out of place, but it did get me stoked for part 2

You describe the slow build up just like Lonesome Dove, which was the greatest western of all time !!!!!!!

I went with my parents, all of us big Kevin Costner fans and fans of the western genre. We loved it and never felt it was too long, yet after reading your review and thinking more about it, the third storyline with the wagon train could have easily been moved over to Chapter Two. What a great experience at the cinema!

I think the movie could’ve benefited from splitting up the different storylines. Chapters within the chapter. Would’ve been easier to follow and allowed us to actually develop a relationship with these characters, rather than teeter back and forth between each story. This movie will be understood better when seen back to back with chapter 2.

I hadn't heard of this - thanks for the review. My dad was a huge western fan - I have many fond memories of watching stories like Unforgiven, Geronimo, and Lonesome Dove with him. Love the hat, btw, and your enthusiasm for the genre.

The film was great. The montage at the end seemed much more than a trailer to the next film… almost an entire breakdown of the next one. I’m excited to see it either way!

Ive been revisiting a lot of older Costner movies recently and you've peaked my curiosity with this review cuz this is the sort of thing Im wanting to watch lately.

Being filmed in Moab, Utah where alot of Westerns have been filmed. There are about 4 story lines that were introduced in this SAGA 1. Eventually they will all intersect.

Rio Bravo :)

my fear is that they will not have the money for parts 3 and 4 since it's not doing as well. that's what puts me in the TV series camp, would have had the time to flesh the characters and story out more. that being said, I'll be there for part 2! and I pray it's a success

Agree. Maybe if the film was subtitled "The Prologue" it would have helped people to understand what they we about to see.

I appreciate your comments. I just got out of a screening, and although l was really looking forward to it - and l love westerns - l walked out after 90 minutes. I never found the movie boring, but it seemed uninvolving. I feel Costner really misstepped by over- scoring the film. Every scene has some big, sweeping 1980's soundtrack that l found to be a BIG distraction. I also thought that the film seemed shot for the small screen, as almost all the shots are closeups, extremely tight, and play to the middle of the screen. Now l plan to give it another shot - l will definitely buy the disc and watch at home. I sense that this was originally shot for television, and l actually feel it will play better there. I hope the box office improves. I caught it at a 4:00 matine, and it was nearly full. I hope Costner can finish this film, because l trust his judgement. But so far, it doesn't connect with me. Odd.