Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 - Movie Review

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 continues right from where Chapter 1 stops, to take us further through the rough South Western frontier in the post Civil War era. That’s a sprawling epic that combines thousands of individuals’ stories of struggle, hope, and determination pushed to the limit against the background of the conquest of the Great Plains. Unlike its prequel, this narrative masterfully develops and builds character arcs further while integrating them into the gritty use of the South West desert as a backdrop, majestic yet cruel.

This is the story of survival and pioneering spirit of people and human essence in the face of adversities. There is a deep but somewhat harsh trend present in the film, which discusses the main ideas of conquest, identity, and creation of the community with the background of the harsh struggle between man and raw nature. The mood is always reserved but with a shred of optimism, which corresponds to the theme of rebuilding and moving forward after Civil War.

Kevin Costner not only directs the movie but also acts as lead man with authority that sets the pace in the picture. The prospects are also brought into life by the whole cast featuring Todd Allen, Arthur Anderson, Stefania Barr and other noteworthy actors. Every character is well-defined and brings value on the plot delivering the nature of life in the Western frontier.

Kevin Costner has done an excellent job, providing historical accuracy to the screen. His observation is reflected through the accurate staging of scenes that provide glimpses of luxury and poverty of settler’s life. The passion in Costner as both writer and director is evident, and he manages the epic proportions of this piece while not losing sight of the characters.

The musical score of this film is dense and effective, switching from eerie to old school Western as needed. I am thankful to say that post-synchronization it acts as a narrative tool that enhances the dramatic aspects and emotions during important scenes. There is always some distinct sound of arrogance related with the odyssey although the music interlinks introspective moments amongst the disorder sporadically.

With the varied cities, the cinematographer succeeds in creating the vast openness of the American frontier so universally admired. Each frame is a visual treat that sets up the grandiose backgrounds against the small battles of the protagonists. There is a great use of lighting – natural one bathes the interior in the dusty, raw textures of the desert while artificial one accentuates the gloom of the 19th century.

The cinematography also deserves a special mention; the sets are well designed and manage to take the audience back to the 19th century. The kind of shooting done on the Caucasian frontier townships and the rugged terrains help in enhancing the cinematography of the film a lot.

In this aural and visual spectacle, special effects are selectively and selectively applied to complement drama without drowning the basic human interest that the film portrays. Subtle nuances, reinforce actual action pieces, making the latter actual and believable, Though the style varies from that seen in most ActionAdventure movies, it is effective in serving the larger purpose of enhancing the action sequences. There is always time to assess the gigantic emotional and narrative folds that are painted before the audiences.

Thus the tempo is consciously deliberate and this makes the movie massively massively intriguing. It follows a rural life, the hardships of which were most likely earned through the taming of the Western frontier, and keeps the viewer interested through small revelations and plot twists and turns.

The speech used in the movie is realistic and historical which was a great contributing factor to the realism portrayed in the movie. That is used to enrich the character and advance the personal and the political storyline intertwined in the plot.

What I found good in the film is that it in sometimes is slow in the central act whereby many scenes seem to extend the storyline. Additionally, while the narrative depth is commendable, some character arcs could have been expanded further for nuanced exploration.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 is a narrative work of art that does hit the intended mark of capturing the American frontier. It evokes an emotional response giving the audience a theatrical and aesthetic experience and portraying wonderful appearances by Al Pacino and Christopher Walken and superb direction. The film, having some imperfections, could be considered to be a good follow-up to the first part, and, needless to say, the determination of Kevin Costner in sharing a vision of the great and memorable film.