Before Yellowstone: How Do Kevin Costner's Older Westerns Compare to Horizon?
Kevin Costner is a true superstar of the Western genre. As his new Horizon movies are making their way to the masses, let’s see how his previous films compare to them.
After decades of planning and dreaming, Kevin Costner finally got to make his ultimate magnum opus, the Horizon: An American Saga movie series. The first movie is out now, the second one is coming soon, and the third one is already filming: there’s no stopping Costner now. But Chapter 1 has been received rather… Ambiguously so far.
In that light, let’s see how Kevin Costner’s previous (iconic) Western movies did, and how they compare to his new outing.
Costner Began Gunslinging in the 20th Century
Kevin Costner’s first serious Western movie was 1985’s Silverado directed by Lawrence Kasdan. The movie followed a group of misfit friends who decided to fix the issues of a small town which, of course, involved a bunch of gunfights. Silverado was reasonably loved, with 78 and 80% Critic and Audience Scores on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.2/10 on IMDb.
His second Western became an instant classic. In 1990’s Dances with Wolves, Costner was both the director and the lead star as he lived his best life in a remote Civil War outpost and befriended the local Native tribe. Dances with Wolves boasts a double-87% on RT and a strong 8.0/10 IMDb score to match, deservedly so.
Kevin Costner’s last Western movie in the 20th century fared noticeably worse. 1994’s Wyatt Earp (again, directed by Lawrence Kasdan) was destroyed by the critics, with a measly 31% Tomatometer Score, but fans gave it a 61% Audience Score and a surprisingly higher 6.7/10 IMDb score, which doesn’t happen too often.
Costner’s Western Adventures Kept Going
Almost a decade later, Kevin Costner rehabilitated himself with 2003’s Open Range which he both directed and starred in. This classic tale of a retired gunslinger forced back into action by the world’s injustice was really well received as shown by its 79 and 84% Rotten Tomatoes scores and an echoing 7.4/10 on IMDb.
A few years back, in 2020, Costner played the lead part of a retired sheriff who tries to find his grandson in Thomas Bezucha’s Let Him Go. Reasonably successful, this movie raked up a respectable 85% Critic Score and a 76% Audience Score, but did noticeably worse on IMDb. On that platform, Let Him Go only earned 6.7/10.
Finally, we’ve reached the recent Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1. While this film has only been out for a few days, it has already made waves due to its shockingly low opening weekend. Most critics were not thrilled by Costner’s new film, giving it only 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, but viewers disagree. With a 71% Audience Score on the same platform and a similar 7.1/10 on IMDb, Horizon is holding on.