Blah, predictable ending

The first part of this movie was pretty decent, but the second was disappointing. It became just another movie wherein the hero overcomes incredible odds to rescue the lady and live happily ever after.

Personally, I prefer the hopeless/bleak style of clichéd ending.

The alternate ending where Jim died was weak too, even worse than the "happily ever after" one they ended up using.

Without changing too much of the story, this is an idea that struck me while watching the movie:

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The trio runs out to the car to find the Major sitting inside. Filled with anger, sadness, and guilt over the loss of his comrades, the Major shoots Jim and Selena on sight. Hannah puts the car in reverse, but before the car can get up to speed the Major shoots her as well.

Having gotten revenge—and seeing no way forward—the Major then shoots himself.
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To me, this seems more likely than what happened in the film. I don't get why the Major 1) couldn't/didn't shoot Jim in the chest and 2) didn't shoot Hannah, but instead just yelled as he was driven to his death. He didn't seem shy about doing whatever it took to survive.

Alternatively, maybe the gate was rigged with explosives. When they try to run through the gate with the car at the end, they trip the explosives and go up in a fireball. That's kind of what I had hoped had happened when the shot froze and cut away.

In either case, I would probably end with shots of the fighter jet flying across the landscape, showing that humanity continues on despite what we witnessed during the film.

Just my two cents.