A Reel Opinion: The Horizons of the Old West

This weekend, the Old West returns to the big screen. Kevin Costner, who once helmed the frontier-exploring DANCES WITH WOLVES to a Best Picture win in 1990, directs, stars in, (and self-finances), HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA  - CHAPTER 1. It is the first of a planned four-film franchise, with CHAPTER 2 arriving this August. 

 

HORIZON will be the only major motion picture in 2024 set in the Old West. This is far cry from the glory days of the genre. For nearly 100 years, the Old West, with its glorified cowboys, Indians, outlaws, peacemakers, shanty towns and vast frontiers…captured the hearts and imaginations of cinema audiences. The genre goes back to the silent era, with the British short KIDNAPPING BY INDIANS from 1899 firing the gun that would echo for over 100 years. In 1903, the genre really took off with THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, which would set the template for the Western on the big screen and small. 

 

The Western was able to be made cheaply and it reflected American history. It launched more than one generation of audiences (as my grandpa used to say, “put the cowboys on”), and became a breeding ground for Hollywood legends. Director John Ford would elevate the Western with his masterful films STAGECOACH (1939), FORT APACHE (1948), THE SEARCHERS (1956), and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962). And along the trail, he would make a mega-star out of John Wayne. Other stars would follow Wayne: Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, and Gene Autry…to name a few. 

 

In the 1960’s, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone would set a new standard for Westerns and make an icon out of Clint Eastwood with his trio of “Spaghetti Westerns”. Over time, the Western would cross over into comedy with Mel Brooks’ BLAZING SADDLES (1974), and later, THE THREE AMIGOS! (1986). Action films would take hold of it with YOUNG GUNS in 1988. 

 

Just two years after Costner would win Best Picture for DANCES WITH WOLVES, Clint Eastwood would bring home another Best Picture for the Old West with his masterful UNFORGIVEN. Other notable films in this era would include TOMBSTONE (1993), THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1995), and the Costner-led WYATT EARP (1994). The Old West would play a vital role in the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy, and Pixar would create the iconic character of Woody based on several rootin-tootin cinematic cowboys. 

 

By the time the 2000’s rolled in, the genre was sadly beginning to disappear from the big screen, but we would still be treated to excellent yarns such as 3:10 to YUMA (2007), the masterful THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (2007), and the Coen Brother’s remake of TRUE GRIT (2010). Kevin Costner would return to directing cowboys with OPEN RANGE in 2003. 

 

In the last ten years, the Western has vanished from our big screens just as quickly as the frontier did, replaced with shiny and flashy things that attract eager pioneers. Costner, with his HORZION films, could very well re-ignite the genre if he manages to strike gold. But it could also send our beloved cowboys riding off into the sunset for the last time. 

 

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HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA - CHAPTER 1 releases June 28^th, with previews set for June 27^th. Costner directs and stars, and he is joined on-screen by Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Danny Huston, Michael Rooker, Jena Malone, Luke Wilson, Will Patton, and Thomas Haden Church.