In most cases, I don’t see this as either/or. For example, I think both the re-recording as well as the film recording of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for CAPRICORN ONE are very interesting, and very listenable, yet they are totally different recordings. The album recording is wider, more open spaced, whereas the film recording is denser, more in your face. I like both. I do prefer the presentation of the film recording though, since the rerecording left out the suspense music from the beginning of the movie, which I think is terrific.
Irconically, while many of the soundtrack albums of the 1970s and 1980s are allegedly assembled (often by the composer himself) to provide a stand alone listening experience, I more often than not find that the more comprehensive (and often though not always chronological) presentation that is customary for many of today’s re-releases makes for a far better stand alone listening experience than the original album assemblies, regardless of whether one has seen the movie or not. (But that’s an assembly issue and not necessarily a recording one.)
In case of PATTON, I actually think that all three available recordings have their merits. There are two different recordings of DAMIEN – OMEN II on CD, and there as well: they are both different, and I listen at times to the film recording, at other times to the album recording. In case of JAWS, even though the original album is an iconic soundtrack, I far prefer the original film recording (or the re-recording by McNeely), simply because the original album focused very much on the “pretty” music, and left out most of the brutal, modernistic stuff, which (at least to my Penderecki /Stravinsky soiled ears) is the beef of the score. Again, that’s an assembly issue more than a recording issue, the album recording itself is very good.
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). It's best when a release has both, but as the album & original are usually owned by different companies by now, it doesn't happen very often.