9. The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Wild Bunch is set in a time of change, where justice was no longer delivered by rugged antiheroes, but instead by the law. It follows a group of aging outlaws who are struggling to adapt to these times, and they decide to go out with a bang. The film was controversial upon its release due to the violence, and for many people, it marked the end of public interest in the genre as times were also changing in modern America.
It is now deemed a classic, and a must-see for any fan of gun-toting and stylish Westerns, as director Sam Peckinpah did an excellent job with creating a stylish piece. This was achieved through the use of normal and slow-motion images, quick-cut editing and multi-angle shots. In 1999, the film was selected by the U.S National Film Registry for preservation in the Library of Congress.
http://thelongtake.net/2014/08/21/american-new-wave-the-wild-bunch/ Source: Thelongtake.net
8. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Made in 1960, John Sturges’s The Magnificent Seven is a Western remake of the 1954 Japanese classic, Seven Samurai, directed by Akira Kurosawa. It has a brilliant cast of Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn, and it also features a phenomenal and iconic movie score by Elmer Bernstein (with the main theme being reused countless times).
It tells the story of seven gunfighters, who are hired to protect a small Mexican village from a group of marauding bandits. The terrific cast, score, and story ensure that it is a must-see and one of the all-time great Western films, and it was also selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2013. A highly anticipated remake of the film is also set for a 2016 release, with a cast of Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo6cgcIvNfA Source: YouTube