YO, ADRIAN - "ROCKY" IS 25!

TALIA SHIRE SAYS PEOPLE ARE STILL MOVED BY HER ROLE

2001

It took place 25 years ago and was filmed on a 28-day shoot - not a lot of time to make a feature film, much less retain memories of it, yet all those involved with "Rocky" seem to recall the film as if it were just yesterday.

Now fans can hear cast members Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young and Carl Weathers and filmmakers such as director John G. Avildsen share their thoughts on the 1976 Best Picture Oscar winner, new on special-edition DVD as part of a five-disc set that includes all the films in the series.

For those who need a left hook to jar their memory, the film is about the plight of Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a thug-turned-boxer who defies all odds in his quest for the heavyweight championship. The film co-stars Shire as Adrian, a shopkeeper racked by low self-esteem, until Rocky brings love into her life for the very first time.

Perhaps the most amazing fact about "Rocky" is that it was essentially a low-budget film with a big studio feel. Shire told me in a recent interview that the lack of money and the short shooting schedule actually served the movie - which was made for just under $1 million - very well.

"It was like the independent movies of today - it was about taking a risk," Shire said. "It wasn't about having so much money at stake, where you tend to forfeit your ideas and solve your problems in a more formulaic way. In 'Rocky,' there wasn't that much money. And because the risk factors were changed, little eccentricities were allowed to happen."

One of those eccentricities, Shire said, was the memorable scene in which Rocky took her ice skating. The scene called for a crowd of people, but there wasn't enough money in the budget to hire enough extras.

"That turned out to be something that just suited the scene beautifully," she said.

But one thing that she can't figure out to this day is why nobody used the scene as the basis for a "Rocky and Adrian" ice show act.

"I've always looked at it and asked, 'Why hasn't anybody ever done this as a ballet on ice?' Rocky and Adrian - it seems so perfect," Shire mused.

And while she and Sly managed to make the best of the ice-rink situation, Shire is still amazed by how the filmmakers pulled off the scene that absolutely required time, money and bodies: the championship fight scene.

"I've been thinking to myself, 'My God, how did they do the big fight sequences?' That would generally in itself cost a few million dollars, never mind the story around it," Shire said. "You've got to worry about the continuity of blood, prosthetics, scarring and so forth, and they were moving around people to give the illusion of a crowd. I don't know how they did it."

But perhaps the most lasting impression for Shire about the film was her initial meeting with Stallone.

"Even though I read the piece beforehand, I was not prepared for the man, who was absolutely larger than life - that scale, that size, that energy and wit - and he was coming in the door backwards," Shire said.

But soon enough - and it's pretty evident from their scenes together in the film - Shire and Stallone developed a strong chemistry.

"Even in my first audition, when I punched him, I felt a great sense of give and take and jest, yet with an intelligence," Shire said, laughing.

And while she's maintained that connection with Stallone over all the intervening years, she's thrilled that audience members still maintain a connection with Adrian. The character to this day inspires people with low self-esteem to break out of their shells, and people approach Shire in public to thank her for it.

"It happens all the time, and with both men and women," Shire said. "Many young girls, too. I can't tell you how many (who have come up to me) who have felt unloved, rejected or not up to the ideal standards.

"Especially today, there is so much pressure for women to look a certain way, and Adrian comes out of nowhere and is transformed by love through love. Rocky sees her a certain way, and that has a great meaning for young girls."