Kevin Costner has always been the Hollywood cowboy who never quite hung up his boots.

From Dances with Wolves to Yellowstone, he’s built a reputation as the stoic, brooding American frontiersman who can ride a horse better than most people can drive a car.

So when he poured his heart, soul, and financial future into his ambitious multi-part epic Horizon: An American Saga, the industry held its breath.

Would this be his magnum opus, or would it be the cinematic equivalent of a wagon wheel rolling straight off a cliff?

Now that Horizon has hit theaters, critics, fans, and even Costner’s rivals have weighed in.

And what they’re saying ranges from high praise to brutal takedowns, with enough drama to fuel a dozen Hollywood gossip cycles.

The Dream: Costner’s Wild West Obsession

For years, Kevin Costner has been telling anyone who would listen that he had a story to tell—a story bigger than Yellowstone, grander than Dances with Wolves, and more sprawling than even the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Horizon was his baby, a multi-chapter Western epic designed to capture the raw, untamed spirit of America’s frontier days.

But passion projects in Hollywood are tricky.

For every Titanic that becomes a blockbuster, there’s a Waterworld—another Costner gamble that sank faster than the set itself.

Still, Costner pressed on, convinced that the world needed Horizon.

He mortgaged parts of his fortune.

He pulled away from Yellowstone at the height of its cultural relevance.

He risked his legacy on what he described as “a story that needed to be told.”

The question, of course, was whether audiences or critics actually wanted to hear it.

The Hype vs.The Reality

In the months leading up to its release, Costner treated Horizon like a sacred mission.

Interviews framed him as a man on the edge—both literally, on the edge of financial ruin, and metaphorically, on the edge of artistic transcendence.

Fans expected sweeping landscapes, gritty cowboy action, and the kind of cinematic grandeur Hollywood hasn’t embraced since the heyday of John Ford.

What they got, however, divided opinion like the Mason-Dixon line.

Some saw a masterpiece.

Others saw a self-indulgent marathon that felt longer than the actual expansion of the American frontier.

What the Critics Are Saying

This is where the knives came out—or, depending on the review, the golden laurel wreaths.

Let’s take a look at the polarized reactions.

The Praise: “Epic Cinema for a Lost Generation”
Supporters hailed Horizon as a daring throwback, an unapologetically old-school Western that dared to be patient, sprawling, and unapologetically sincere in a world addicted to superhero quips and CGI explosions.

One critic gushed: “Costner isn’t just making a movie—he’s reviving a genre.

Horizon is proof that the American West is still the great canvas for storytelling, and Costner paints on it with the broad, confident strokes of a master.”

Another went even further, calling it “the Lawrence of Arabia of the American frontier.”

The Scorn: “Kevin’s Vanity Project”
Of course, not everyone was so generous.

Detractors didn’t just dislike the film—they seemed to take personal offense at its very existence.

One review sneered: “Watching Horizon is like being trapped in a desert caravan where Kevin Costner is the only storyteller, and he won’t stop talking about himself.

It’s bloated, indulgent, and could have used an editor with a sharper axe.”

Another critic quipped: “If this is a saga, then someone please tell me when the intermission is, because I need to escape.”

The word “vanity project” appeared in multiple reviews, suggesting that Costner’s attempt to immortalize himself in cinematic history might have backfired into a self-portrait no one asked for.

The Audience Divide

If the critics were split, audiences were downright chaotic.

In some theaters, Horizon played to standing ovations.

In others, viewers bolted for the exits halfway through, muttering that they “didn’t sign up for this.

” On social media, the battle lines were drawn.

Fans defended Costner’s vision, calling it “cinema for grown-ups,” while skeptics accused him of wasting everyone’s time on “cowboy cosplay with a bloated runtime.”

One viral tweet summed it up: “Kevin Costner mortgaged his ranch for THIS? Someone check on the man.”

Hollywood Insiders Weigh In

Behind closed doors, the gossip was even juicier.

Hollywood power players whispered about Costner’s obsession, describing him as “possessed” by the film.

Some questioned whether his exit from Yellowstone was really about creative differences or just about clearing his schedule for Horizon.

One anonymous producer admitted: “People in town are rooting for him, but also… not.

It’s like watching someone gamble away their fortune at the blackjack table.

Part of you hopes they win, but another part is fascinated by the wreckage if they don’t.

”

And let’s not forget Costner’s rocky personal life, with his messy divorce making headlines at the same time as Horizon’s release.

Tabloids gleefully tied the two narratives together: the cowboy at a crossroads, risking everything, losing love, and trying to find redemption in the dust of the West.

The Spectacle of Costner Himself

It’s worth noting that Kevin Costner is as much a part of the Horizon story as the film itself.

The press couldn’t stop writing about him—his cowboy hats, his gravelly voice, his steely-eyed conviction that Horizon was bigger than box office numbers.

In a way, Costner’s determination to make this film turned him into the character he’s always played: the lone gunslinger, standing against impossible odds, refusing to back down even when everyone else has walked away.

Some admired that.

Others mocked it.

But no one ignored it.

Comparisons: Dances with Wolves, Yellowstone, and Waterworld

Of course, critics couldn’t resist dragging out Costner’s history.

For every glowing review that compared Horizon to Dances with Wolves—the film that won him Oscars and respect—there were biting reminders of Waterworld, that infamous flop that still haunts his career.

The comparisons to Yellowstone were inevitable too.

Fans of the hit show complained that Costner abandoned the modern Western masterpiece that made him relevant again, only to deliver something that didn’t live up to the hype.

Others argued that without Yellowstone, Horizon might not have even been greenlit.

Either way, the shadow of his past loomed large.

The Money Question

Then, of course, there’s the money.

Costner invested millions of his own fortune into Horizon.

Reports swirled about him mortgaging property, rearranging his financial empire, and putting everything on the line.

If Horizon succeeds, he’ll be hailed as a visionary who risked it all and won.

If it fails, he risks becoming the butt of Hollywood’s cruelest joke: the cowboy who bet the ranch and lost it.

Already, whispers about box office performance are dominating the conversation.

Will audiences really show up for a sprawling multi-part Western in 2025, when superhero fatigue, streaming addiction, and TikTok attention spans dominate culture?

The Cultural Debate: Do We Still Want Westerns?

Ultimately, Horizon is about more than just Costner.

It’s about whether the Western genre still has a place in modern Hollywood.

For decades, the Western was America’s cinematic crown jewel.

But in recent years, audiences have flocked to superheroes, sci-fi, and horror instead.

Costner is betting that people still crave wide open skies, moral ambiguity, and gun-slinging justice.

Critics argue he’s romanticizing a past that audiences have already left behind.

The divide is generational too.

Older viewers embraced Horizon as a return to storytelling fundamentals.

Younger audiences dismissed it as slow, outdated, and irrelevant.

What Reviewers Really Think: The Verdict

So, after all the chatter, where do we land? What do reviewers really think of Kevin Costner’s Horizon?

In short: they think it’s bold, bloated, beautiful, frustrating, ambitious, and self-indulgent—all at once.

It’s a film that defies simple categorization, a project that inspires both awe and ridicule.

To some, it’s proof that cinema can still be grand.

To others, it’s proof that Hollywood stars should be stopped before their egos bankrupt them.

But one thing is undeniable: Horizon has people talking.

And in Hollywood, that’s half the battle.

The Legacy Question

For Kevin Costner, this isn’t just about box office numbers or reviews.

It’s about legacy.

He’s staking his claim as not just an actor, but a storyteller whose vision demands respect.

Whether he succeeds or fails, Horizon ensures one thing: Kevin Costner will never be forgotten.

His gamble cements him as one of Hollywood’s last great dreamers, a man who still believes in cinema as art, even in an age where streaming platforms and franchises dominate.

The real question is whether audiences will follow him into the frontier—or leave him stranded in the desert of his own ambition.

Conclusion: The Cowboy Rides On

At the end of the day, Horizon is exactly what Kevin Costner promised: a saga.

It’s sprawling, messy, inspiring, infuriating, and utterly fascinating.

It may not be perfect.

It may not even be universally loved.

But it’s undeniably Kevin Costner—stubborn, ambitious, and larger than life.

And maybe that’s the point.

Maybe Horizon isn’t about reinventing the Western or pleasing every critic.

Maybe it’s about Costner himself, the cowboy who refuses to fade quietly into Hollywood history.

Love it or hate it, reviewers agree on one thing: Horizon is a film you can’t ignore.

And in today’s crowded entertainment landscape, that might just be the biggest triumph of all.