Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 (2024)

Epic, Grand But Disjointed Western - Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 review by GI

At times this is visually spectacular, almost Fordian in its grandeur images of the American landscape but it's also epic yet listless storytelling. The title tells you there's more chapters to come, indeed you get to see what looks like a very action filled Chapter 2 as a coda to this first film. But it feels very disjointed as it tries to weave various storylines together from the start of a new community in Apache country, which of course they are not happy about! To an early murder of a man by her husband, a section that then doesn't pick up again for sometime. This section begins a revenge hunt by some psychopathic brothers culminating in director and star Kevin Costner's appearance as a sort of stoic drifter forced to kill a man. There's also a wagon train section and there's no doubt these strands will tie together at some point but for a film this long it does feel like it's dragging and meandering without any real sense of a strong narrative. Many of the characters feel like standard western tropes including Sam Worthington's handsome Army officer and Sienna Miller's widowed woman gradually falling for him. There are some solid set pieces including an Indian attack on the tented township and some well directed action. But you do have to keep up with this as it jumps between the stories that span over fifteen years. It looks impressive and there is evidence that for Costner this is a passion piece. It is worth checking out and hopefully it will sit well with the next instalment.