For this fan, the 2001 DVD release of "Ben-Hur" was a revelation.

Though nothing can match the thrill of seeing William Wyler's Biblical-era epic on screen (in the wide-screen process the studio modestly dubbed M-G-M 65), the 1959 film had been lovingly restored, and the two-sided disc came with very good extras, including the 1993 documentary "The Making of an Epic," screen tests and commentary by star Charlton Heston.

But in DVD time, four years is a generation. So now comes "Ben-Hur: Collector's Edition" (Warner), a four-disc set that improves on the earlier release in every way. The new Dolby 5.1 Surround remix improves substantially on the earlier one.

And it adds even more related material, including the entire 1925 adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel, with silent screen stars Ramon Novarro as Judah Ben-Hur and Francis X. Bushman as Messala, the childhood friend who becomes his bitter enemy and chariot-race-cheating competitor.

The 1993 doc is still here, but is now the companion to the newly produced hour-long "The Epic That Changed Hollywood," which focuses on the film's impact on the movie business.

'COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER'

"Coal Miner's Daughter" is no "Ben-Hur" — for one thing, no chariots, only coal trains — but the slightly fictionalized 1980 portrait of country music singer and composer Loretta Lynn, whose career was reignited last year with help from Jack White, was extremely influential.

Its calluses-and-hard-times treatment of Lynn's life and long marriage to hard-drinking, womanizing Mooney Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones) was very different from the usual airbrushed bios. It set the template for films like "Ray" and the upcoming "Walk the Line," about Lynn's contemporary, Johnny Cash.

The new "25th Anniversary Edition" (Universal) makes its biggest improvement where it was needed most: the soundtrack. It has Sissy Spacek doing a fine job singing Lynn's songs, but is now pristinely presented in 5.1 Surround.

'EMPIRE FALLS'

The best of the recent feature films new to DVD this week wasn't shown in theaters: "Empire Falls" (HBO), directed by Fred Schepisi, is a very faithful adaptation of Richard Russo's award-winning novel about a divorced New England diner owner (Ed Harris) and his relationship with his family and the factory town of Empire Falls.

The studios would never have allowed it the leisurely four-hour running time it deserves and was given when aired as an HBO miniseries. We get to know Harris' Miles Robey, his estranged wife (Helen Hunt), his brother (Aidan Quinn) and his irascible old man (Paul Newman).