Hah, I was actually thinking about starting the same topic a couple of weeks ago after watching it again on TV, but never got around to it! I think that she may have seen the movie, but it is possible that the themes were just completely coincidental.
I thought that the movie was not that bad. It wasn't completely realistic, but it was still believable. The directing was somewhat bad, and the action scenes weren't as suspenseful as they should have been, but it was still an interesting concept with a good story.
The kids didn't know where the American resistance was, right? How could they go looking for them anyways? Besides, the resistance would eventually work their way across to Colorado, especially after hearing about the Wolverines.