Edwards Saddleback Cinema 6
23684 El Toro Road,
Lake Forest,
CA
92630
23684 El Toro Road,
Lake Forest,
CA
92630
2 people
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I have the vaguest of memories of this plaza opening. The general memory being that the plaza was “fancy” and highly popular. Flash forward to the mid 90’s, when I moved back to Southern California as an adult, and the plaza certainly hadn’t aged well. In it’s later years, the center was run down and less than popular. The cinema had become a last resort choice, having never been updated or had any significant effort placed into its' upkeep. I once watched a heavily scratched print of “Dazed & Confused”, amidst a sea of bagged seats, and non functioning air-conditioning during the Saddleback’s waning years. And today, the one time multiple venues (Saddleback, El Torro, & Laguna Hills Mall) epicenter for moviegoing in the area is completely devoid of theatres.
Harold Ramis' 1983 adaptation of John Hughes' “National Lampoon’s Vacation” opened at the Saddleback 6 40 years ago today (July 29, 1983).
Starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo & Randy Quaid, the family road-trip comedy debuted at number one on 1,175 and held the top spot for the next two weeks, remaining in the top ten through mid-October and finishing its run as the 11th highest-grossing film of 1983 with a gross just north of $61 million.
The film spawned five sequels over the next 32 years and remains one of the most beloved comedy franchises of all time.
John Landis' 1988 comedy “Coming to America” opened at the Saddleback 6 35 years ago this week (June 29, 1988).
Starring Eddie Murphy, Aresenio Hall & James Earl Jones, the film debuted at number one on over 2,000 screens and remained in the top 10 through mid-September, grossing over $128 million in North America & finishing its run at the 3rd highest-grossing film of 1988.
1987’s “The Lost Boys” opened at the Saddleback 6 35 years ago today (July 31, 1987).
Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 sci-fi classic “RoboCop” opened at the Saddleback 6 35 years ago today (July 17, 1987).
I saw it here opening weekend with a full crowd as a teenager and loved it.
The third theatrical re-release of “Star Wars” opened at the Saddleback 6 40 years ago this weekend (April 10, 1981). It marked the first time the texts “Episode IV” & “A New Hope” appeared at the beginning of the opening crawl.
Michael Mann’s 1981 crime-noir debut “Thief” starring James Caan opened at the Saddleback 6 40 years ago this weekend.
Opened by General Cinemas and taken over by Edwards in 1977
Grand opening ad posted.
I remember going to theaters 123 and 456 as a kid. There was a Play company toy store and Pet store on the 456 theater side. The book store was in the middle of the parking lot and had a hexagon shape.I also remember walking through the back side of theaters 123 where the waterfall path was and going to a Arvac Electronic supply store on the other end of the shopping center where Kentucky fried chicken use to be.
I can remember frequenting 1-2-3 as a kid in the ‘70s, but for the life of me I can only recall one title: Cloak and Dagger in 1984.
I remember movies at 4-5-6 more vividly: National Lampoon’s Vacation, The Lost Boys, Robocop and Coming to America to name a few.
I do have a faint recollection of the waterfall path that filmgeek73if speaks of. It was both neat and weird.
There was also a great stand-alone B.Dalton bookstore in the middle of the parking lot. Anybody remember that?
The 1-2-3 had 3D anaglyph 35mm projection. I remember seeing Jaws 3D, Spacehunter 3D, and Metal Storm 3D. Once the 4-5-6 was built, the 1-2-3 started to play movies like Friday the 13th and Avenging Angel type films while the 4-5-6 played the bigger films like Ghostbusters. Then the El Toro 5 across the street started to be the theatre that opened all of the blockbuster titles in 1984. The 1-2-3 had this weird landscape and waterfall displays behind the building. When you exited the auditoriums it led to this path where the waterfalls were. It was neat and weird at the same time.
General Cinema opened this theatre on 7/12/74, as the Saddleback 1-2-3. Edwards added the site to their chain in the late 70’s and opened the second triplex on 2/8/80. Located in El Toro for most of it’s run as a cinema (El Toro became Lake Forest in 1991), the theatre was joined by both the Edwards El Toro 5 and Edwards/Sanborn Laguna Hills Mall 3 in the 1980’s; resulting in three Edwards sites being located roughly a mile away from one another and a, then surprising, fourteen screens serving the area.