Ever wonder...i know i have....what happened AFTER the big climax of a movie? Take GALAXYQUEST....please(Sorry)....and conciter. They crash a multi ton alien space ship in a parking lot...miraculisly not killing anyone, far as we know....and all of them get to go back into T.V. land? Ah, am i the only one bemused at the thought of what went on After the con? Imagin the police debreffing, followed by the F.B.I. debrief? "I'm Agent Mulder, this is Agent Scully. We'd like to ask you about this "Spacecraft" you found." Imagin the lawsuits from car owners? Ho, boy! So....is there any scene, or climax, that you've constructed an "Epilogue" for? Juuuuuust asking......
The State of New York vs. The Ghostbusters for speeding around in a 1960 ambulance, the use and operation of those "ecto-plasmic guns" without a permit, and the illegal use of an american landmark, namely, the Statue Of Liberty, as a means of transportation and as a weapon. The trail will begin on, 1/18/02 in lower Manhatten court house.
I've often wondered about the immense cleanup and rebuilding that would be required after Independence Day. Industry, infrastructure, bureaucracy, military, transportation and economy are all in ruins. All major cities are levelled, and one is radioactive. What's more, there are 15-mile-wide spaceships crashed all over the place, and probably a few chunks of the mothership that will be raining down for a while. Something tells me those smiles they're all wearing at the end would fade pretty fast when they think about what comes next.
Would it even be possible to maintain more than a few enclaves of civilization? Maybe there should be Independence Day 2, where we find Smith, Goldblum, Pullman and the rest trapped in Area 51, under seige by Humungous and his gang (or an American equivalent), and playing games with a dog skull. Actually, the post-ID4 US would be a cool setting for a movie like that.
I've seen some ID4 novels out working from that premise. Never read any, but they do as you suggested. Give em' a try, tell us what ya' think.