Speculating on another man's art is always risky business.

First, you run the risk of being proven wrong once the curtain is drawn on the silver screen.

Second, with genius like Steven Spielberg's, it is difficult for more ordinary minds like mine to grasp all that he is seeking to do.

Third, others - including the artist - might perceive such speculation as an effort to spoil the film for others, uncovering surprises the film-maker has intended for his audience.

Of course, being proven wrong is part of the thrill - like taking guesses at some elaborate riddle which can only be unraveled when the film opens later. And with a film maker like Spielberg, the riddle provides even greater challenges - although not completely insurmountable. His earlier films provide many clues to what we can expect in his upcoming production of War of the Worlds. He frequently repeats images, although he often uses techniques in different ways.

While movie companies like Paramount make their money through the attractions cheap thrills and unexpected surprises bring to their audiences, relying on the mystery of the film to keep people linking up at the box office, few of the things Spielberg does - including his special effects - are overwhelming different from those he has done in the past.

That is not where Spielberg's true innovative genius is.

While the cheap tricks might keep thrill-seekers coming, Spielberg's manipulation of elements - using the same formula for different impact and depth - is the stuff that makes his films last.

Doing a review of a film before anyone but the film maker has actually seen it also takes a better mind than mine to accomplish. While I have relied on the literary skills of Joseph Campbell as a guide to Spielberg in the past, for the chore of predicting some aspects of War of the World, I turn to poet and critic W.H. Auden who has laid out a more digestible road map by which we might predict the route Spielberg will take in the upcoming film.

Although Spielberg shapes his films around mythological patterns, for the most part he follows one particular pattern called "the quest." This is described by Auden as "a human activities which uses the present and aims towards an uncertain future along a road to some undetermined destination."

Auden called the quest "the oldest and most durable" of literary genres. He also laid out requirements for such tales.

1) There must be a precious object or person the hero wants to find, possess or marry. In Raiders of Lost Ark, the object, of course, was the ark. In Minority Report - which is basically a detective story - the real objective was information that would unravel the mystery. In Jurassic Park, the heroes had to find a way to contain the dinosaurs. In ET, the hero had to find a way to help get the alien back home. In Close Encounters, the hero had to get to the location where he could meet up with the Aliens.

Following this logic, we can expect Spielberg to insert some necessary key element in War of the Worlds that the Cruise character must seek out in order to deal with the alien invasion.

2) The quest requires a journey - often a long one - to some place unknown to the hero at first, but through a variety of clues - becomes known. In Raiders, this is the secret chamber in which the Ark is story. In Jurassic Park, it is a journey to the island. In Poltergeist, this is a trip into the spiritual world.

This may explain the large amount of the East Coast the Cruise character must traverse in World of the World, one that takes him from the Iron Bound section of Newark to the historic center of Boston.

3) As Minority Report shows the precious object cannot be found by just anyone. The Cruise character in that film (or his now unused eyes) possess the necessary keys to solving the puzzle. He has the detective skills to solve the mystery and his eyes the retina pattern to be able to open necessary doors for access. In Raiders, the hero has the knowledge that allows him to follow the clues and bring him to the Ark. In Poltergeist, it is the mother who can communicate with the daughter. In ET, it is the boy Elliott that has the empathic connection with ET.

This, of course, leads us to wonder what special ability will the Cruise character in War of the Worlds possess that will allow him and him alone to solve the problems facing humanity.

4) In each of Spielberg's quest tales, the hero faces a series of test which more or less prove his worthiness, but also in passing them - unlocks the door to the next level of the mystery and the next test until bringing the character to the ultimate test that solves the mystery or resolves the problem. In Raiders, the hero solved one problem after another until he got to the Ark as does the heroes in ET, Close Encounters and other better Spielberg films. So we can expect a similar structure in War of the Worlds which will pose challenges from the beginning that will become more and more complex revealing as he winds his way through the maze of clues and obstacles in the same way as the Cruise character does in Minority Report - escaping his own headquarters, then the vehicle, and later through sequence after sequence through which he gradually also picks up clues to the final solution.

So when the Cruise character escapes Newark and flees to his ex-wife's house, he not only comes away with his life and kids, but also some piece of the final answer. What clues will he find at his ex-wife's house and what tests does he face when he wanders through the woods filled with red weed . Will he find some clue there as to how to beat the aliens?

5) Auden and Campbell both point out that each level of the quest, each test and each smaller goal is guarded. The hero must overcome the guardian in order to win the prize. This may be as simple as stealing the rocket pack of a police office to escape arrest or slithering through living poisonous vines in Minority Report or the slithering snakes in Raiders in order to gain access to a chamber.

In Spielberg, the greatest challenge his hero faces - and often the one upon which the final success of the quest is based - comes out of the character, some personal flaw or weakness he or she must overcome before the final piece of the puzzle can be placed.

In Jaws, the hero had to face his worst fears of water, in Raiders, snakes, in Jurassic Park, kids, in Minority Report, guilt over a lost child.

What personal issue with the hero of War of the Worlds have to overcome in order to save the world from the aliens?

6) No quest can be achieved alone, and the hero will collect allies along the way, people who will flock to his cause. This was true in all of Spielberg's quest movies and will also be true in War of the Worlds.

While Spielberg has been accused by some critics of being unromantic, lacking any serious love scenes, in truth, his films bring together people in a much more fundamental way. In ET, the experience brought mother and siblings together. In Jurassic Park, Poltergeist and Jaws, the family unit was bonded more tightly by the experiences they faced together in the quest. And often, the loved one of the hero becomes the closest ally in the final conflict, such as the husband in Poltergeist, the fiancé in Jurassic Park, and in a strange way three brotherly men in Jaws.

You can expect War of the Worlds to happen in War of the Worlds where the ex-wife as in Minority Report will provide some final and critical support in the hero's quest, coming to his aide when he needs her most.