The original recording has a magic to it that will never be recaptured. The Prometheus is very different by design, which is part of why I like it so much. If the attempt was to re-create the original performance, it would have fallen quite flat. Although Raine and the CPPO have done some stunning re-creations (Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia, Goldsmith's Hour of the Gun, Rózsa's El Cid, to name a few), Poledouris had a unique touch, and this score was his magnum opus.

I've recently taken a closer look at the Blu-ray and have to say that the film looks very odd. When I pull out my laserdisc and compare the two, the laser has a more natural appearance. I don't know how much of that is because that's the version of the film I'm used to and how much is the original theatrical color-timing, but I seem to recall the special edition DVD looking a lot more like the laser (color-wise, anyway) than the Blu-ray does.

Please forgive me for asking so much about the details of this release, it's just that it's not an exaggeration to say that it is a dream come true to have a good copy of the American theatrical version of Conan with score-oriented audio options. This was one of my favorite films and scores growing up, and this disc represents EXACTLY what I would have wanted.