Movie review: ‘Horizon: An American Saga’

Long gone are the times of The Duke and even Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti western era, but over the years we have still seen a consistent stream of western films being churned out. This genre seems to be a constant throughout the history of the United States. 

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this tradition even dates all the way back to the beginning of cinema in 1890. Every single year there seems to be at least one western being made with a fairly recognizable actor or actress leading the helm. This year, western fans were told that they would be getting a treat: a two part film written, directed by and starring Kevin Costner. 

Costner has recently garnered a lot of attention for himself because of the rise in popularity of the hit television show “Yellowstone.” Because of this recent attention, there were quite a few people who were excited to see the new western that he was creating. However, it seems many fans were left disappointed. 

Ultimately, part one of “Horizon: An American Saga” was a total flop at the box office. According to an article in Forbes, that this film reportedly had a massive budget of 100 million USD, and Collider reports that the film was only able to pull in around $25 million since its release. 

Where did this film go wrong? And what could have been done better to help the film succeed? 

The main point of contention for this film is the fact that it is three hours long and it asked for an incredible amount of patience from its audience. The story is very well thought out and very well written, however there is nothing to keep audiences hooked throughout the first film. 

“Horizon: An American Saga” asks its audience to bear with it while it gets the world building out of the way in a three hour dialogue — all before the action starts in part two. 

Some audiences were left to wonder if part two will even live up to the expectation or if it will simply be another three hours of dialogue and storytelling. For lack of a better term, the pacing is just not done well. 

Some viewers may get confused by the constant back and forth switching between characters. If you are able to keep track of which story is being told while watching, you may walk out of the theater craving the sequel. 

But if the viewer is not hooked by anything, they may feel as though they wasted three hours of their life, in addition to their hard earned money. 

The story revolves around too many characters to list. This is part of the issue the film faces. There are four major stories that begin to unfold throughout the film, and because of this, we as viewers get a film-scene whiplash when it comes to the transitions between the different stories. 

This is not to say that “Horizon: An American Saga” is a bad film, not in the slightest. There are many things this film does incredibly well such as the dialogue and storytelling, which are absolutely knocked out of the park. 

Each story is told very well, but because so much time is taken to tell each of the stories this is what ultimately throws the pacing off. 

This film may have benefited from the same treatment that “The Lonesome Dove” got when it was initially released — having been released as a miniseries on television instead of a full theatrical release. 

The biggest thing that this film does well is the dialogue revolving around politics and the ever so delicate topic of colonization. The story takes place throughout the western expansion of the United States, where audiences see a lot of conflict between the White Mountain Apache tribe, settlers and military that are beginning to occupy the land. 

This film does showcase the violence that occurred between the two conflicting forces, and it does a good job showcasing the extremes of both sides. 

There are characters who simply want to slaughter the other side. What is more prominently featured though, is that there are level headed characters who are able to view the situation as a changing of the times and who are completely reasonable about the change. 

This is what “Horizon: An American Saga” does so well. It takes the opportunity to show that the settling of the west was tainted by the extremes and that most people just wanted to reach an agreement. This is just one of the many conflicts that are present throughout the story. This film does a very good job of not showing either side as the “good guys.” 

Another downfall of this film is the lack of quotability. If you are a fan of the western genre, you know phrases such as “say when,” or “I have a rendezvous with destiny,” or “if you’re gonna shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.” 

Throughout this film there were very few lines of dialogue that were quick witted enough to become quotable for fans. This is a big deal for films in the western genre, because without quotability, you lose the audience's attachment to the characters that are present. 

Another issue with this film is that it gave audiences artistic filming and well thought out discussion surrounding the topic of colonization but ignored the expectation of gunslinging that accompanies the western genre. It is just not what audiences were expecting. 

The total flop at the box office resulted in the indefinite delay of part two, which was initially scheduled for release on Aug 16. Costner had initially made plans to create four movies in this universe. However it seems that with this major failure delaying even the second film, we may never get the chance to see parts three and four. Since part two has already been filmed, audiences are left in limbo about when they may be able to see the sequel. 

From the snippet of part two that is shown at the tail end of part one, it is safe to say that part two appears to be the film most viewers expected when walking into theaters to see part one. It is a shame that we may not get to see how successful this series could have been. 

Are westerns finally on their way out the door after over a century of dominating the box office or was this film simply a victim of bad production decisions?

Overall, “Horizon: An American Saga” is a very good film that struggles with pacing while not living up to the expectations of the western genre. 

We can hope that the second part is able to redeem the damage done by the lackluster box office launch of part one, but don’t hold your breath.