Now that it is certain that Kevin Costner will not return to Yellowstone, the actor and director can concentrate fully on promoting his multi-part Western Horizon, which will be released in cinemas shortly. In doing so, he finds clear words about where the genre, in his opinion, often “lazy” and what makes his planned 4-part film series so extraordinary.
Horizon will be different: Kevin Costner is a fan of “authentic” Westerns
From Dances with Wolves to Yellowstone, the Western genre has always held a great appeal for Kevin Costner. The fact that the 69-year-old has now invested 38 million US dollars of his personal fortune to realize his long-standing dream of his multi-part Western saga Horizon on his own speaks volumes. In Horizon several settlers who came to the area in the 1860s in search of a new home in
America’s West beforeWith this story, Costner wants to achieve something that he believes many genre representatives did wrong, as he revealed to Jake’s Take:
I think it is difficult to make a good western. It is simply indecent when people are lazy in their approach [an das Genre] or someone is killed in the first few minutes so the hero can spend the rest of the film killing someone else. I guess if it’s done really well it can be entertaining, but far too often it doesn’t work out that way. So it’s no wonder people reject Westerns. They don’t see themselves in them.
Tobis
Kevin Costner in Horizon
So what does Kevin Costner do differently in his own work Horizon? He has a clear answer:
The Horizon’s strength is women. I have seven women in Horizon and their experience is incredible. […] I have gunfights and all the action and stuff. But it’s done in an honest way so it feels authentic. And in the meantime, I’m dealing with aspects like a woman bathing because she feels dirty in her environment. […] These are the things I want to add to a western: Scenes that are not normally associated with westerns.
The first Horizon reviews from the Cannes Film Festival received Kevin Costner’s western with mixed feelings, with the epic also having to face the accusation that “boring“. In Germany, the first part of Horizon starts on 22 August 2024 in cinemas, Horizon 2 follows on November 7, 2024. Then you can form your own opinion.
Podcast: 8 brilliant westerns that are worth watching, and not just for Yellowstone fans
Whether thanks to series hits like Yellowstone and 1883 or Tarantino masterpieces like Django Unchained: the Western genre is experiencing a popularity like never before. For all fans, we have selected the best Westerns that you can stream right now.
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The 8 Western highlights presented on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and MUBI include both absolute classics and lesser-known insider tips. There is something for every genre fan: Our recommendations cover a full 55 years of Western history between 1964 and 2019.