For some reason, the Sybil Danning Adventure Video line is rich with Greek war movies. I guess they were inexpensive and would never sell unless they put Sybil on the box. Well, guess the fact that I am writing about this nearly fifty years later means it was a good idea.
Set during the turbulent backdrop of World War II following the collapse of the Albanian front and the Axis entry into Greece, The Brave Bunch shifts its focus north to Macedonia. As Bulgarian occupation forces move into local villages under the brutal command of the ruthless Stepan Raiko, resistance sparks from within. Nikos Devinets (played by Giannis Voglis, renamed John Miller for international markets), a wounded Greek officer, manages to escape from occupied Athens alongside his close friend, journalist Vassilis Anthimos (Petros Fyssoun, alias Peter Funk). Heading straight into the heart of the occupied northern territory, the pair join forces with underground local patriots—including Katerina (Xenia Kalogeropoulou), who works close to the occupying command to feed vital intelligence to the underground. Armed with grit, tactical sabotage and an unyielding will to reclaim their homeland, a handful of courageous men and women wage a fierce campaign to drive out the invaders.
When the film was packaged for international and English-speaking markets (such as its U.S. home video release via Adventure Video), it underwent significant alterations. Not only was the runtime trimmed down from its epic original 157-minute canvas to a brisk 108 minutes, but pseudonyms were also slapped onto the directorial and writing credits.
Speaking of not inexpensive, I paid for several of these Sybil movies, because they are nowhere streaming or the Internet, even my beloved ok.ru.
