Independence Daysaster

Plot

In the small town of Moose Ridge, Oregon, Andrew Garsette is getting ready for the Fourth of July with his friends Nick and Eliza, plus his uncle Pete, a firefighter. They are expecting Andrew's father, U.S. President Sam Garsette, who is also Pete's brother, to arrive on Marine One for the celebration. But the helicopter gets redirected to Dixon Airbase instead. Around the same time, SETI scientist Celia Layman learns about a strange signal that is both heading somewhere and being sent back. Then, without warning, alien machines burst up from underground and fall from the sky, showing up in many places across the globe. Pete talks the Secret Service into taking the kids to safety while he stays to help locals. He comes across Celia stranded by a broken-down car and, though hesitant, gives her a ride into town. They find Moose Ridge destroyed, so Pete suggests they head for Dixon. Meanwhile, President Sam tells Vice President Dennis Brubaker and General Moore to hold off attacking the alien ships until they have more information. But Marine One gets hit and crashes, and Brubaker assumes Sam is dead. He and Moore flee Washington, D.C. just before it is obliterated. They reach Dixon Airbase, where Brubaker is forced to step up as president. With base commander Spears giving reluctant approval, Brubaker orders an Air Force strike. Back on the road, the Secret Service convoy is attacked; the agents die and Nick is hurt. Andrew, Eliza, and Nick find Pete and Celia, and together they watch fighter jets battle alien drones. The jets are wiped out easily, but Pete uses Celia's phonon-emitting device to take down one drone. They make it to Dixon and try to get help, but a huge alien ship appears and Nick gets taken, likely killed. Pete and Celia figure out the device works by cutting the aliens' link to their mothership. They grab an alien battery, see more drones hauling wreckage back to the mothership, and when another wave of aliens attacks, they power up the device with the battery and knock out all the drones with a single pulse. Having survived his crash, Sam encounters Todd, a computer genius, who contacts Dixon with help from his friend Leni, confirming Sam is alive to Brubaker. Brubaker reveals the alien mothership is near the Moon. Sam again refuses to order an attack; the connection is cut, and Brubaker authorizes a nuclear missile strike. Drones intercept all the missiles. Moore realizes the drilling machines are emitting a gas that is changing Earth's atmosphere, making it uninhabitable in days. Sam is found by Pete's group, and they plan to let a drone take the device to the mothership and activate it with a satellite signal, disabling all drones. Sam contacts Spears as Dixon is attacked, ordering another missile strike, but Spears says missiles can only be launched from silos directly, then she, Moore, and Brubaker are killed. En route to a satellite base, they are attacked again. Celia sacrifices herself, letting the drone take the device to the ship. Sam contacts Army Rangers and orders them to launch missiles. As missiles launch, Andrew, Eliza, Todd, and Leni try to send the signal, but it is cut by another alien ambush. Pete destroys it by igniting his truck's fuel with a Roman candle and repairs the lines, allowing the kids to resend the signal. Most missiles are intercepted by drones, but the remaining ones are disabled when the signal activates the device, allowing one missile to destroy the ship. The ship's destruction resembles a giant firework explosion. The film ends with a larger alien fleet approaching Earth.