Films by genre, 1993: (samurai film (chambara film; samurai swordplay movie): Chambara films (period films about samurai) are a violent Japanese film genre which gained popularity after World War II. They are well-known in the West, mainly through the films of Akira Kurosawa and the master characterizations of Toshiro Mifune; relies on swordsmanship as the essential ingredient of the genre)

Wikipedia, Aug. 28, 2007: (samurai cinema: in Japan the term chanbara, also spelled chambara, is used for this genre; subcategory of jidaigeki, which equates to period drama; historically, the genre is usually set in the Tokugawa era (1600-1868) and focuses on the end of an entire way of life for the samurai)

Japanese entertainment glossary of terms, via WWW, Aug. 3, 2010 (chanbara/chambara - refers to a specific sub-genre of the jidaigeki drama. A drama series focusing on sword fighting, kendo or samurai, which was made popular during the 1940's through 1960's. Normally, you would not use chanbara when referencing period Japanese dramas. Instead, jidaigeki drama would be the more appropriate name when applying to Japanese dramas. Unfortunately, many web sites misspell the romaji as chambara, but when used with that form of spelling, everyone knows what it means.)

Films that feature samurai and are usually set in the Tokugawa period of Japanese history.