Westerns are back in vogue.
A large part of their resurgence is due to legendary actor Kevin Costner.
And Kevin Costner’s latest project has western fans singing Happy Trails despite the woke critics.
While fans of Yellowstone are disappointed that Kevin Costner won’t be returning for the show’s final run, they are thrilled with his latest project.
A new western on the horizon
Kevin Costner’s latest project, Horizon: An American Saga, is getting rave fan reviews.
The first of his four-part epic western wasn’t supposed to match the summer blockbusters like Bad Boys.
And the fact that Horizon is roughly three hours long would usually be another strike against its potential commercial success.
These potential problems could have given Costner some pause.
Afterall, he has ponied up a reported $38 million of his own money for the project.
But for moviegoers and western fans, none of this matters.
Horizon is a fascinating movie, well worth the 3 hours needed to watch it.
For Costner, it is a project of love for old-school westerns.
The multi-part saga, according to Blaze Media’s Christian Toto, “acknowledges the bruised humanity of the nation’s early settlers but doesn’t downplay their dreams.”
In other words, this is not a woke Hollywood production.
The first installment of Horizon begins with death and it is a precursor to what viewers see throughout Costner’s saga.
The movie opens in 1859 with Apache Indians who aren’t thrilled with white settlers moving into their land in the San Pedro Valley.
This leads to a brilliantly conceived attack sequence Costner directed to make maximum impact on viewers.
Worthy of a summer blockbuster
According to Toto, the Apache attack on the settlers is violent and relentless and “worthy of a summer blockbuster.”
It’s also shocking given the current spate of revisionist woke western garbage spewing out of Tinsel Town.
To be clear, Costner lets viewers hear from both sides of the battle when the violence ensues.
After the stunning attack sequence, the film moves to Montana and Wyoming for more stories of the wild west.
That’s when Costner makes his first appearance in the film.
He plays Hayes Ellison, a brusque individual who befriends a local prostitute played by Abbey Lee and the toddler she’s protecting.
While we don’t know all that much about Hayes, we do know he’s good with a sidearm.
And we find out he’s got a number of tests coming his way.
“This isn’t a John Wayne Western, but Costner’s Hayes Ellison evokes some of that plainspoken style and a reluctance to settle matters with steel,” Toto wrote. “There’s a whiff of Shane in the character, too.”
Horizon has stellar production values and amazing vistas, which fill the bill for the western genre.
It also includes some solid performances by the actors.
For example, Luke Wilson surprises viewers by delivering a stellar performance as a leader.
One of the best sequences in this first installment is one in which a young boy gets revenge on the Apache tribe that murdered his family.
Despite the critics’ attacks on the epic western, it is a welcome opus for fans of the genre and moviegoers in general.
As Toto wrote, “one thing is clear after part one: We’re in good hands with Costner. Few stars better understand what westerns mean to America.”
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
