Claudio Carvalho After the American Civil War, the brothers Dan (Robert Ryan) and Neil Hammond (Rock Hudson) returns to their father's ranch H Circle in Austin, Texas with their friend Tiny (James Arness). The greedy Dan does not adapt to ranching again and has the intention of raising a fortune of his own. He borrows one thousand dollars from a friend and play cards with the wealthy Cord Hardin (Raymond Bur). However he loses five thousand dollars and Hardin humiliates Dan. He recruits dangerous deserters and other scum to form a gang, and together they steal the cattle of Cord and other ranchers. Dan raises a large amount and returns to Austin, telling that he made a fortune in New Orleans. When Cord kidnaps Neil to interrogate about the business of his brother, Cord's wife Lorna (Julia Adams) goes to the hotel and tells to Dan what is happening in the ranch. Dan goes to Cord's ranch and kills him in self- defense. He is judged innocent and sooner he marries Lorna. But his ambition is not satisfied and Dan uses the force to raise an empire. However, his father and Neil decide to bring Dan to the court with tragic consequences."Horizons West" is a western about greedy in the Post-Civil War dividing a family of ranchers. Robert Ryan is excellent, as usual, in the role of a man that loses his values in the war and returns cruel and ambitious. Julia Adams is very beautiful, wearing wonderful costumes. There are excellent lines in the dialogs and in the end this is an entertaining film. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Império do Pavor" ("Empire of Fear")

doug-balch Review of 'Horizon's West'by you Review of Horizon's West 1952 Directed by Budd Boetticher This is an entertaining movie, with a good cast. I gave it six stars out of 10 in the IMDb ranking. It scored 13 points in my ranking system, which is slightly above average. Here's what worked: Strong lead performance by Robert Ryan. He proves he can carry a film. Also, his character is both the protagonist and the heavy, which is always complex and interesting. A very alluring performance by Julie Adams. Another solid effort by John McIntire, who once again convincingly portrays a character 20 years older than himself. He plays Ryan's father in the film and I'm sure few suspect that in reality he was only two years older than Robert Ryan. Ryan's character lives in Austin and becomes a cattle rustler. He sells his cattle in Mexico to a corrupt Mexican general who rules over an area of Mexico called the Zona Libre. He also recruits a community of criminals and army deserters to assist him. These are two really hip themes, one of which was also used effectively in Fritz Lang's "Rancho Notorious". Unfortunately, both of these movies didn't capitalize fully on these ideas. There's a really good movie still waiting to be made using the "Zona Libre" and community of outlaw themes. Excellent Civil War theme. Robert Ryan plays a character who returns to Texas from the Civil War. His humiliation at the South's defeat ignites his destructive ambition to succeed financially after the war. Interesting early appearance by several actors who would go on to TV fame and fortune, including Raymond Burr and "Gunsmoke" stalwarts Dennis Weaver and James Arness. There are no plot holes. Most of the character's motivations make sense and are consistent. Now here's what kept the movie from being better: It's just too stiff and melodramatic. At times it teeters on the edge of "Duel in the Sun"-esquire steamy romance. It's kind of low budget. Some of the interior sets are OK, but it doesn't get outdoors enough. And when they do, they film just north of L.A. No comic relief Rock Hudson

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) When color was not taken for granted, Universal would come out in the fifties with those brightly, intensely colored westerns which were a pleasure to see, even if they would not be so good. But Horizons West is a very good film, where the always excellent Robert Ryan is Dan Hammond, a frustrated southern Major who envies those who became rich with the war and will stop at nothing to become rich and powerful. Rock Hudson is the good guy Neil, his adopted brother. Julia Adams(Lorna) is the wife of the disgusting Hardin(Raymond Burr) a bad, rich man. Lorna falls madly in love with Dan. Meanwhile the ranchers became increasingly revolted with Dan's tactics to get all the land he can. There is a father-son conflict between Dan and Ira (John McIntire) which brought to mind Winchester 73. Budd Boetticher is known for his Ranown westerns, but his earlier westerns like this one, Seminole, Wings of The Hawk, The Man from the Alamo and The Cimarron Kid are all much above average.

Martin Bradley One of a number of interesting psychological westerns from the fifties though this isn't in the same class as the later Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott westerns, (it's let down by a poor script and poor acting). Robert Ryan and Rock Hudson play brothers returning from the Civil War to the vanquished Confederate side. Ryan goes to the bad while the mealy-mouthed Hudson stays on the side of law and order and that's basically it. But Boetticher sets up a number of interesting scenarios that make the Ryan character far from a cut-and-dried villain, (late in the film there is even a little speech as to what turned him the way he is), and the familial relationships are nicely drawn.