But we still hope that the Horizon saga will pick up speed with future installments.
There is perhaps no genre more American than the Western. Stories of cowboys and the Wild West have captured the screen since the dawn of cinema. The Western has been buried dozens of times in its century-long existence, but each time it has pulled itself out, desperately refusing to die.
Horizon is Kevin Costner ‘s Dream Project
At the end of the last century, we almost witnessed the final death of the genre, but first Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves and then Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven revived the genre not only for the viewers, but also for the Academy – Dances With Wolves won seven Oscars and Unforgiven won four.
Both Costner and Eastwood, the main cowboys of modern cinema, are still in business. And while the latter is hard at work on his latest film, the former has completed his dream project for which he left one of the most popular series of recent years, Yellowstone.
Costner Took a Risk with Horizon, And It Hasn’t Paid Off (Yet)
The director’s idea is as ambitious as it is crazy. Perhaps Kevin Costner has never taken such a risk in his long career – Horizon is risky not only because of the three-hour running time and the gigantic budget of $100M, but also because of the bet on a conventional plot in an era of rethinking not only the Western, but also other genres.
The first Horizon is a classic, old-fashioned Western. Cruel natives, no less cruel settlers who kill each other. The main character is a silent, tired of past battles man, who finds himself in the center of showdowns.
Costner’s Hayes Ellison is a tribute to Eastwood’s nameless cowboy, a character long since relegated to the past. Unfortunately, Costner’s movie has nothing new to offer the genre, only familiar story arcs. And this is confirmed by the movie’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes – only 40% from critics.
Horizon will certainly please fans of old-fashioned westerns (as its audience score of 72% proves), but it is unlikely to be an innovation in the genre. Will Costner be able to take his idea to its logical conclusion? We will soon find out.
