Like bothJohn WayneandClint Eastwoodbefore him,Kevin Costnerisn’t solely defined by the work he’s done in the Western genre, but many of the Old West stories he’s brought to life endure. He’s become further tied to the Western in more recent years thanks to the ever-popular television show,Yellowstone, as well as the miniseriesHatfields & McCoysa few years before that.
Kevin Costner made a return to cinema and the Western at the same time in 2024, with his ambitious multipart epic,Horizon: An American Saga, getting its first entry released in June 2024, with a second planned for August 2024. Tofocus on the movies he’s been a part of, and specifically how he’s thrived within the Western genre, what follows is a ranking of all the Westerns he’s starred in and/or directed, starting with the merely okay and ending with the classics.
6’Wyatt Earp' (1994)
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
For as tired as it might be to compare the snappier, moreexciting, and more quotableTombstoneto the longer andmore exhaustingWyatt Earp, it’s hard to resist. After all, both concern Earp and his dramatic life, with both films covering the famed gunfight at the O.K. Corral to some extent (Tombstonewas a little more focused on it, admittedly). And both filmscame out incredibly close to one another, ultimately setting them up to compete, withTombstonegetting released in December 1993 andWyatt Earpgetting released in June 1994.
Wyatt Earpfunctionsmore like a traditional biopicfor its titular character, covering many years in the man’s life and playing it fairly safe overall. The one thing that really holds it back from being pretty good is the length and (lack of) pacing, becauseWyatt Earpseriously drags at times. There’s a strong supporting cast here, the film looks good throughout, and it doesn’t really feel like anyone wasn’t trying necessarily… it’s just thatWyatt Earplacks excitement, and getting sucked into the story at hand is difficult (which might well be a death knell for any movie 3+ hours long).
Wyatt Earp
Watch on Apple TV+
5’Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1' (2024)
Director: Kevin Costner
Hope you’re ready to hear the word “long” a lot, because likeWyatt Earpand some other soon-to-be-mentioned films,Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1is very long, clocking in at just one minute over three hours. And it’s set to be just one-quarter of a mammoth epic, because Kevin Costner – the film’s director and star – is planning for this American saga to be four parts long. If this initial movie has set a precedent, then folks could be in for one 12-hour epic.Horizon’ssecond chapter is indeed on the horizon, with a planned release date of July 19, 2025, but it’s up in the air whenChapters 3and4will come out.
Anyway, all that’s to say there’s not much that can be said aboutHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1without the other chapters.On its own, it’s not particularly great, and each of its subplots – centering on people living through the Civil War, the film spanning from the early 1860s to the middle of the decade – feel rather divorced from one another, for now. It’s a bit like watching the first 30 to 40 minutes of a normal-length feature film and trying to judge it. As far as first acts go, there are certainly waysHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1could feel a little more satisfying (The Fellowship of the Ring, for example, kicks off a greater story forThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, but still feels like a complete film), but maybe time – and future chapters – will make this installment seem better in hindsight.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
Watch in theaters
4’Let Him Go' (2020)
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Let Him Gostands out among Kevin Costner Westerns for a handful of reasons. For one, it’s the only Western movie he’s been in that clocks in at under two hours, it’s the only one set outside Old West times, and it’s the only Western of his that wasn’t directed by Costner himself or Lawrence Kasdan. Its narrative involves a retired sheriff and his wife going on a desperate mission to rescue their grandson, and it’s overall one of themore underrated movies Kevin Costner has starred in.
Hitting the beats you’d expect a neo-Western/thriller film to hit, but nonetheless hitting them well,Let Him Gois the perfect rainy afternoon movie; the kind you’d catch on cable and be pleasantly surprised by, if cable was still a thing. Costner and co-starDiane Laneboth rose to popularity at around the same time (and they played Clark Kent’s parents, too, inMan of Steel), so it’s good to see them both given substantial roles here, andthey give strong performances in what ends up being a pretty solid film.
Let Him Go
Watch on Peacock
3’Silverado' (1985)
A movie wheresome supposed outlaws are surprisingly heroic, and it’s a corrupt sheriff who’s ultimately the villain,Silveradocame out during a fairly uneventful decade for the Western genre as a whole. The Golden Age of Hollywood saw plenty of popular Westerns, and thenthose ofthe Spaghetti and Revisionist varietiesproved popular in the 1960s and some of the 1970s, but the 1980s didn’t seem to see as many. The genre took off again, to some extent, in the 1990s, when Revisionist Westerns came back in fashion and got even darker (see Unforgiven, for example).
So,Silveradomight well bethe best Western of its decade, or at least the best of the big-budget Hollywood ones (granted, not a ton of competition, but it’s something). A young and up-and-coming Kevin Costner is just one part of a gargantuan and impressive cast that also includes the likes ofKevin Kline,Scott Glenn,Danny Glover,Rosanna Arquette,John Cleese,Linda Hunt, andJeff Goldblum. It’s big, and a little uneven/unwieldy, but it’s mostly a good deal of fun, and succeeds in feeling like part-throwback, part-revisionism, as far as Westerns go.
Rent on Apple TV
2’Open Range' (2003)
The only film to date directed by Kevin Costner that doesn’t hover around or exceed the three-hour mark,Open Rangeis another entry in his filmographythat can be considered kind of underrated. It’s not so much that the people who’ve seenOpen Rangeundervalued it; more just that not enough people seem to have viewed it in the first place. It has a simple premise, revolving around an ex-gunslinger forced to gather some allies to defend himself against a corrupt lawman and his forces, but it’s the way the straightforward story’s told that makesOpen Rangework.
Costner is good in the lead role, and thesometimes terrifying, sometimes Dumbledore actor,Michael Gambon, is an effective villain, but it’s probablyRobert Duvallwho steals the movie, and makes it as good as it is. Something about Duvall makes him a perfect fit for the Western genre (he’s one of many reasons why theLonesome Doveminiseries is so great), and he shines here.But the rest ofOpen Rangeis also rock solid, with good charactersand a compelling central conflict, ultimately making it a rewarding watch.
Open Range
1’Dances with Wolves' (1990)
Dances with Wolveswas the first film Kevin Costner ever directed, and it’s proved to be his most successful critically, not to mention one of the movies thatcan count itself as a Best Picture-winning epic. That’s all to say that it’s another long movie in Costner’s filmography, but itgenerally uses its runtime well, telling the story of a Civil War soldier who finds a new purpose and a way of life when he befriends the members of a local Sioux tribe.
Sure,Dances with Wolvesisbroad in the way it tackles themes surrounding prejudice and redemption, but, viewed more positively, it’s also easy to callDances with Wolvesapproachable and decently empathetic. It’s sprawling and exciting at times, but also tells an interesting personal story alongside the grandeur and more epic scenes, all ensuring it earns the right to be considered a classic of the Western genre.
