Quick Note: Changing the title of these little movie reviews but keeping the numbering system continuous, unlike Marvel comics numbering haha.
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (released 2024) Ryan's Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars.
Now don't let the 2.5 make you think I did not enjoy this movie because I did but it is only a portion of the movie. Unlike say the Lord of the Rings where each installment feels like its own story, Horizon Chapter 1 feels like only a portion of the story. The set up we see here is engaging but the film ends with a "To Be Continued" as this is planned as a four part film series. It is a sprawling epic it feels like a kindred spirit to the epic How the West Was Won (1962) which Costner has said over the years is one of his favorite films. He emulates that film as this is an ensemble piece with a grand cast of familiar faces. For example even though Kevin Costner is top billed he is only in a portion of the film and doesn't appear until about an hour into the three hour story.
The film has about four or five storylines (like How the West Was Won) that partially intersect but I have a feeling will fully intersect when all four Chapters come out. The first (Story 1) is the land development named Horizon, which is being advertised to people in the East Coast to start a new life for cheap land prices. The person selling (who we don't see until a brief moment at the end of the film) does not actually own the land and we quickly come to find it is in "Indian Territory". There is an excellent opening sequence with a land surveyor and then a family building a house that all learn this fact very quickly. Eventually a large settlement has developed and we meet Sienna Miller's character who becomes one of the several protagonists. Yet the Apache warriors soon stage a raid on the town in an excellently staged battle. This story continues with the addition of Calvary officers (including Sam Worthington) and a hunting party to find the Apache raiders (story 2). There is also a story from the Apache point of view that is left hanging in this installment but I hope will be given more screen time in the next Chapters (story 3).
The next story (story 4) involves Lucy (Jena Malone). The transition to this story line is a bit abrupt but as it continues the story becomes more organic. She is an abused young mother stuck with the wealthy and ruthless Sykes family. When Lucy shoots the baby's father and flees with her infant son the Sykes brothers set out to find her and bring the baby back to the family. This leads to the meeting of Hayes Ellison (well cast and well played Kevin Costner) an experienced cowboy and gunfighter. He is driving a cattle herd through Wyoming and stops in a a small town to have bath where he gets entangled in Lucy's plight.
The last new story line (story 5) is a wagon train heading west to the town of Horizon. Focusing on the trials of traveling cross country, there is a wealthy couple from England who do not understand they must pull their own weight on the trail, a poor family who is doing more work to help the others (including Will Patton) and the trail "boss" Weyden (played by Luke Wilson) is stuck dealing with all the issues as well as some trail hands who are clearly going to be trouble at some point.
There is a stirring montage near the end which is like a trailer for the future Chapters of this four part saga. One thing to note, some of the scenes shared in previews of this Chapter 1 are only in this ending montage. If you are really looking forward to the scene where Costner is being chased on a horse while firing his rifle over his shoulder that scene is from the ending montage and we will unfortunately have to wait until the next installments to see how it plays out.
The cinematography by J. Michael Muro, who previously worked on Costner's excellent western Open Range, is first rate bringing out the vastness of the plains, the mud and cold of the mountains, and the arid landscape of the Santa Fe Trail. The story is old fashioned but held my interest. I am excited to see the next installments Chapter 2 is finished but was held back from distribution due to the low box office of this first Chapter. Hopefully it will be released to theaters in 2025. I am a fan of well made westerns like this, I do recommend it (especially the fans of How the West Was Won) but I have to see how the full story plays out before I can add it to my favorites list. Happy film viewing everyone.
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