I wish I had only seen it once

Rating: Null/10 (7 March 2004)

I thought 'Independence Day' was hugely entertaining when I first saw it, but I find more flaws in it each time I see it again. I'll leave aside how Devlin & Emmerich thumb their noses at the laws of physics. Instead, I'll focus on three gaping plot holes, plus how the humans react to their last-gasp victory.
1) Nobody has a clue about the existence of the alien mother ship until its with spitting distance of Earth. But how could astronomers have missed an object with a mass 1/4 that of our Moon lumbering its way through the solar system? Plus, all the radio telescopes out there would have picked up that alien static well before that. 2) The nations of the earth respond to the attack by launching jet fighters. But where are the cruise missiles & bombers? You don't risk a pilot's life with one, and you get a bigger bang with the other. Not that they would have penetrated the aliens' shields either, but it looks like we're fighting with one hand tied behind our back. 3) Levinson's computer virus cripples the shields long enough for the good guys to prevail. But if the parts of a Mac & PC are incompatible, wouldn't the aliens' systems and any virus cooked up here be more so? I know its a tribute to H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds', where common bacteria wipes out the Martians, but that doesn't change things.
As for the ending, I now find it so hollow as to be scarier than all the sights of destruction earlier in the movie. The music swells as all the characters are beaming with pride, while looking at the ruins of one of those 15-mile wide 'city destroyers'. I think a more fitting ending would have been for the cheering to die down, and everyone to stare ahead wearily. They recall now that hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of people are dead. All of the trappings of our civilization are crumpled to dust. Life will be a struggle to survive for years to come. And, perhaps, someone could voice regret that our fallen enemies could be so mentally advanced, and so morally backward.
But such an ending would not jibe with the summer popcorn flick Devlin & Emerson set out to create, I guess.