Director: Kevin Costner
Actors: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jon Beavers
Genre: Drama / Western
Rating: M
‘Horizon: Chapter 1’ is a
Western in every sense of the word – set in early 1860s Arizona/Utah, as white
settlers try to establish a new town called “Horizon” in Apache territory, while
the Civil War is being fought back East. There’s a lot of characters and storylines
started, but most centre around Horizon as the focal point of the frontier and it’s
attached by Native Americans. Interestingly, we don’t meet Hayes (Costner) until
almost halfway through, further north in Wyoming. He comes across Marigold
(Lee) and a child who are being pursued by Sykes (Beavers), setting in motion
their journey.
There’s about 4 main storylines: Hayes & Marigold on the run; Frances
Kittredge (Miller) & daughter Elizabeth (MacPhail) and their interactions with
Lieutenant Gephart (Worthington) and Sergent Riordan (Rooker) at the Fort; then
Elias (Haze) & Russell (Kellici) who are out hunting the Apache that attacked
Horizon. And finally there’s the new settlers heading West on their wagons, being
led by Captain Van Weyden (Wilson). It’s not all perfectly linked yet, but you
can start to see how most of it will connect.
The pacing is quite good, considering it’s 3 hours, with a few slow
moments, but given the amount of characters and the 4 distinct threads, it does
well to give enough info, but also spend enough time on the epic landscapes of
Arizona and Utah, with plenty of beauty on show. The score is particularly
impressive. While it may sound long, I’m liking the idea of 4 longs films
instead of a 15-part TV series. Costner has set things up well – and while this
isn’t a perfect film, with no fitting ending, I’m looking forward to the next
chapters.
Overall: Nice platform for a Western epic
Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars
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