Independence Day
Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When General Grey tells the President not to engage until they have visual, in the President's close-up the exterior of this F/A-18 Hornet is quite different than what was shown in the earlier shot, as the canopy closed over him. All the rivets around the canopy have disappeared and the 'danger' triangle is much closer to the name Patrick, the seat differs, etc. Plus the fact that the canopy and hull are actually one unit in the second shot. (02:02:15 - 02:03:15)

Super Grover

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: David calls Connie at the White House and she walks toward the divided pane windows, then pulls one curtain to the side. In the exterior shot facing her, the pane's white grille is between the two sides of the curtain, but in the next interior shot looking out, there's only clear glass, though we should see the grille, just as we see both sides of the curtain with her hand holding the right side. Then, in the next exterior shot facing her, it's back to the original with the visible white grille. (00:38:25)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Several times during the last air battle, the President shoots his missiles, but a view of his plane shows that it still has all four missiles. (02:03:25)

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When David is looking for ice, the fridge door shelves are full of food. When Connie puts the bottle into the fridge, the door shelves are virtually empty. (01:24:55)

Continuity mistake: In the Area 51 hangar, when Steven and David are trying to take off in the alien attacker, we are clearly shown how the ship flies: Pull back on the controls, you go forward, push forward on the controls, you go in reverse. Later, in the mothership, after they have launched the nuke and are released, Steven pulls back on the controls, which should send them flying forward, but the external shot shows them flying backwards. (02:00:25)

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the President holds his frightened daughter, in the shot after the alien craft creates a shadow over the White House, there are photographs and a bust of Lincoln on the table beside the President - the view of the photos is not blocked by anything. In the very next close-up of the photos, things differ, such as a large framed photo of the President with the Dalai Lama that appears out of nowhere, between the photo of the First Lady and the photo of the Pope.

Super Grover

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Jasmine grabs Dylan out of the car, his sneakers are white/black with black laces, but when she is kicking the maintenance door, his sneakers are white with white laces, then it switches again in following shots.

Super Grover

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When David is getting drunk and he's talking to Connie, at one point he slams the bottle down on the counter and a little liquor sprays up out the opening. Then they talk for a second, and he picks the bottle back up to pour himself more, but he now needs to unscrew the cap which was just lying next to the bottle. (01:25:45)

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Jasmine sees the approaching fireball she grabs Dylan from the car and begins to run. In the shot from behind, there are double-yellow lines on the road at her feet reaching into the distance, but in the shot facing her the lines have vanished, though she did not change lanes.

Super Grover

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Captain Hiller is dragging the unconscious alien across the desert, the sky alternates between overcast and perfectly sunny depending on if it's a close up or far off view of Hiller. (01:07:30)

Continuity mistake: The scene after Jasmine's club pole dance, she is with her girlfriend in the dressing room. She is warning her girlfriend not to go to the alien rooftop site. Jasmine walks away undressed, but comes out a moment later with her shirt and pants on, and though she put her clothes on over her dance outfit it is still too quick to accomplish in that brief moment. (00:36:25)

Continuity mistake: When Captain Hiller is in his dress uniform in the house and then outside beside the car, before he heads back to El Toro, the epaulette on his shoulder is out above the collar, in the next shot it is under the collar (where it belongs), but in the very next shot, it is out again. (00:29:35)

Continuity mistake: In the briefing scene at El Toro prior to the first counter-offensive, Lt. Colonel Watson, the briefing officer, has silver oak leaves on his collar (Marine Lieutenant Colonel). A few scenes later, when El Toro is under attack, Lt. Colonel Watson is shown again, but has been demoted two grades and has two silver bars on his collars (Marine Captain).

Continuity mistake: Just before President Whitmore gives his rousing speech, when Major Mitchell is talking into the mic, asking for all flight crews to report to their designated areas, the camouflage pattern on his uniform is entirely different from the uniform he wears in the previous and following scenes that he appears in. (01:51:20 - 01:55:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Steven walks across the lawn to get the newspaper, a few feet away from the window there is a tall rosebush behind a white bench seat with a high back. Later, when Steven packs up to head back to the base, Jasmine pulls open the curtains and right outside the window is a tall flowerless bush. (00:25:20 - 00:29:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: At the White House, after the President says good morning to Connie and walks past her, she stands up then places the two folded sections of USA Today in her left hand - with the headline section covered, as she holds her briefcase in her right hand. Next shot from behind, she is now holding a section in her right hand with the briefcase, as she reads from the headline section held in her left hand.

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When David walks into his office, with Marty, he sits down at his desk, and the water bottle is in front of the computer monitor, to the left of the keyboard. In the next shot, when he picks up the bottle it has moved to the right side of the keyboard.

Super Grover

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Major Mitchell gives the crash course to all the new pilots, his hair his much shorter than in previous and following shots, and Russell's beard is also much fuzzier than it was in the previous shots, etc. (01:51:30)

Super Grover

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When President Whitmore boards the chopper and then Air Force One, he wears a white shirt with both thin and thick stripes. The stripes on his shirt collar constantly change, and nowhere is it more noticeable than when they arrive at Area 51. It varies between only one thick stripe, which changes from the top of the collar to the bottom, or two or more thick stripes, all surrounded by thin stripes. Wardrobe Dept bought identical shirts for the actor to wear, but the collar stripes just don't match up between scenes.

Super Grover

Independence Day mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Russell boards the F/A-18, he places the photo of his kids beside the left DDI on the instrument panel, which is to the left of the number key pad, below the HUD. When he says, "Payback's a bitch..." there is an upside-down matchbook cover (with the words, "Amraam armed....is off" scribbled on it) exactly where the photo was - beside the left DDI, but then later the photo reappears. Also note that the yellow/black zebra marker behind the photo becomes a blue marker as well. (02:09:10 - 02:13:30)

Super Grover

Factual error: There is a shot of the Imperial Valley at night with the edges of the Los Angeles destroyer spinning over the mountains. The center of the destroyer is hovering over downtown LA. Imperial Valley is over 200 miles away from downtown LA, and the destroyer is no more than 20 miles in diameter. There would be no way the edges of the destroyer would extend far enough to be seen from Imperial Valley as shown unless it was over 100 miles in radius. The ship does not even hover over Steven Hiller's house which is in LA, it can nearly be seen whole from there. The destroyer would be obscured by the mountains and from 200 miles it would appear much smaller.

More mistakes in Independence Day

President Whitmore: Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning to all of us. We cannot be consumed by our petty differences anymore. Perhaps it is fate that today is the fourth of July, and we will once again be fighting for our freedom. But not for freedom from tyrrany or oppression or persecution. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world stood up and declared in one voice that we will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

More quotes from Independence Day

Trivia: According to the Director's commentary, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation did not want the film to be released under the title "Independence Day" to avoid legal complications (specifics weren't disclosed as to what the problems might be, but it's also why the abbreviation "ID4" was used). Roland Emmerich (director/writer) and Dean Devlin (writer) needed to justify the title, so they added the rousing bit right at the end of President Whitmore's speech at the hangar when he ends with, "The 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday...today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

Super Grover

More trivia for Independence Day

Question: It's been shown in the film the the aliens are technologically more advanced than us. Then, how come, with all their technology, they were unable to defend themselves from something as simple as a computer virus?

Socks1000

Answer: Remember that the aliens had to interface with our satellite computer code first...David simply "reverse engineered" the code to create the virus. When it was uploaded, they didn't have enough time to combat it.

Answer: It was also a bit of a tribute to "War of the Worlds", in which the alien invaders with much more advanced technology ultimately succumbed to ordinary terrestrial pathogens in the original novel by H. G. Wells as well as its many screen adaptations.

zendaddy621

Chosen answer: Its supposed to be an exercise in demonstrating how the aliens underestimated their opponent, but in reality it's merely a convenient plot device.

GalahadFairlight

Answer: I was wondering the same thing. Since the Harvesters had our satellites meant they could eavesdrop on every single conversation. David and other people in the facility probably put up a firewall on the computers and cameras, so that the aliens couldn't see or hear what they were planning on doing.

Answer: Maybe there were no viruses in the planet where these aliens came from so they didn't have any countermeasures against them.

Answer: They could defend against it, hence why they bring the nuke. The virus drops the shields, and the nuke destroys The Mother Ship. David even says that the shields will be down for a few minutes.

More questions & answers from Independence Day

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