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According to Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Westerns were once the most dominant genre in Hollywood, peaking in the 1950s and 1960s before slowly falling out of favor despite some standout events over the last few decades, but there have been a few standouts, and one man in particular has worked tirelessly to bring the genre back to prominence. Kevin Costner, star and director Dances with Wolvesstar The Hatfields & McCoysand the star of the modern western Yellowstone, finally brought his passion project, Horizon: An American Sagaa spectacular four-part film series that sought to redefine Westerns for cinema. The problem is that the first film bombed so much that the release of the sequel has been delayed indefinitely, but there is still hope, Horizon is now a huge hit on Netflix.
Great start
Horizon: The American Saga – Chapter 1 debuted on Netflix in early January and has been a top 10 streamer ever since. The first part of the epic saga features a massive cast of characters, some of whom we don’t even see until the final teaser on Chapter 2, across many storylines that have yet to intersect. Chapter 1 it’s not a complete film, with none of the stories reaching anything resembling a conclusion, but it’s a brave experiment in bringing the structure of television to film.
The film begins with an Apache raid on the new settlement of Horizon, which serves as the catalyst for the first two storylines, which follow some survivors hiding in a military camp and others seeking revenge. At the same time, in a less developed storyline, the wagon is on its way to Horizon when it comes to the attention of the Apaches, and the threat of an impending attack hangs over the settlers. Another plot follows a young woman on the run from her abusers, while Costner, as the mysterious Hayes Ellison, finds himself in her wake as he falls in love with Marigold, the woman of the night.
Each story shows potential and several characters, including Ellen Jena Malone and one of her pursuers, Caleb Sykes, played by Jamie Campbell Bower (you know him as Stranger Things Vecna), to stand out from the crowd. There are some standout moments, including a tense, well-shot shootout that proves Costner knows what he’s doing behind the camera, but mostly Horizon: The American Saga – Chapter 1 there’s so much going on that it’s easy to miss the details, which is probably why it’s taking off Netflix.
We may never see the whole saga
in theaters Horizon: American Saga – Chapter 1 I willbed, grossed $38 million along with a flurry of middling reviews, with most critics and fans agreeing that the film was okay but had a lot of setup without paying off. Originally, Chapter 2 was set to hit theaters two months after the first film’s debut in June, but the second film was pulled from release in early July, and no replacement has been announced to date. Given the success of the first movie on Netflix, there could be a future for this series, which has three more movies to go. streaming networks instead of theaters.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 debuted on Max last fall, but the Warner Bros. streaming service lacks Netflix’s footprint, and more people likely watched itd movie in the last week than in the last few months combined. It would make sense for the streaming service to pick up the franchise, especially since Kevin Costner financed the production himself and was forced to bring his passion project to life after toiling away at it for decades. Netflix needs content and after spending hundreds of millions on Zach Snyder’s Rebel monthCostner’s Western epic could probably be had for what a streamer would consider a rounding error.
For now, if you haven’t seen Horizon: The American Saga – Chapter 1it’s still worth checking out on Netflix, if for no other reason than to see Kevin Costner pour his heart out on screen for three hours. At least now that it’s streaming, you can stop and take a bathroom break. And if enough people stream it, maybe one day we’ll see the rest of the epic.
