The aim of the thesis is to analyse the way Sam Peckinpah’s western films reflect the ideas of Romanticism of the late 18th and 19th century. The chosen films are Ride the High Country (1962), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), Junior Bonner (1972) and Pat Garrett and Billy, Kid (1973). The two aspects of Romanticism analysed in the thesis is the conflict between nature and industrialisation and the role of Romantic heroes. The thesis claims that Peckinpah’s westerns can be seen as extension of the ideas of such writers as William Wordsworth, William Blake, Nathaniel Hawthorne and others. Similarly to Romantic writers, the Western landscape is a blooming garden and modern technology brings chaos to it. The decline of the Wild West is menacingly symbolized by the railway, cars and modern weapons. Peckinpah extends Romantic ideals as he identifies them with corporate capitalism and ruthless militarism. Peckinpah’s heroes become Romantic heroes because they are forced to do so. Their world is being changed dramatically and they soon become outcasts whose chances of survival are limited. They are forced to face their fate and fight for their beliefs although they are aware of the fact that they are destined to die.