Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 4K 2024

Great actor (and good director) Kevin Costner has set his sights on creating a simply epic canvas. It's supposed to be a movie in four parts. The story of America, which was once great after all. And here's part one. Three hours of screen time. And immediately you realize what a titanic masterpiece Costner dared to create. For it is not just a picture, shot in the best traditions of the classic westerns of the “golden age” of Hollywood. This is a show of the history of the country through the lives of the people who inhabit it. That is - exactly what a classic.

The closest to “Horizons” will be the epic and classic western with John Wayne - “How the West was conquered” and, perhaps, the most underrated masterpiece of Sam Pekinpa - a military western “Major Dundee”.

Before us unfolds a multidimensional picture of life on the American frontier at the time of the beginning of the Civil War. Thank God, Costner did not succumb to the “progressive awakening”. Negroes are few and strictly business, there are strong and virile men and beautiful (and realizing it) and strong women. The natives brutally slaughter the settlers (who show either amazing courage or a complete lack of understanding of the harsh life of the local prairie). We see how the very America, which not so long ago was almost the leader of the world, was created. It was created by white settlers, whose caravans went and went on the road to Santa Fe.

What's on the plus side. Acting roles. Worthington, Costner, Miller... The stars of the former movie glimpse and in small roles, the same M. Rucker, for example.

This movie is not only an entertainment, but also an attempt to comprehend its history. And the realization of its national identity, which is relevant for the Western world that has entered a systemic crisis. The American dream is dead - but there was a time when it led countless caravans.

And we can also remember Scorsese's “Gangs of New York.” For Costner also shows the genesis of American crime.

The movie is three hours long, but it's almost imperceptible. The only thing is that in the very finale it was as if some kind of breakdown happened. But these 5 final minutes rather remind the intro of westerns of former times and are a kind of ommage to them. Let's say, recalling the very beginning of one of the best westerns with John Wayne - “The Most Apt”.

All in all, this movie is a real treat for all fans of westerns. And just a good historical drama. I highly recommend to watch it on the big screen!