Mission to Mars (2000)

Factual error: Gary Sinise looks at a computer screen with a short section (about two full twists) of DNA on it and proclaims that "This DNA looks human." He could have been looking at DNA from any single-celled organism and it would have looked just as human as what he was looking at. All mammals have 90+ percent of their DNA in common, he would have to have sequenced the entire DNA strand (something like 3 billion pairs of nucleotides) to identify it as human, something that would be totally beyond the capacity of anything but a well-equipped genetics lab, something they show no sign of having.

Factual error: The crew of the rescue mission abandon ship after the engines explode. They then rendezvous with a supply module that's already been in Martian orbit. The problem is that the engines exploded just as they were attempting an orbital transfer a from solar orbit to a Martian orbit. As they were unable to make the necessary burns to slow down and correct their angle to complete the transfer, they wouldn't stay in the vicinity of Mars for very long at all.

Factual error: Their complete and utter disregard for the most basic scientific facts in this movie is amazing. It's already been said that Gary Sinise couldn't possibly have recognised the DNA sequence as human (that segment may have been enough to produce a single protein common to any lifeform). The thing that gets me is that he recognises that the DNA is missing a couple of "chromosomes" to complete it. DNA is made of units called nucleotides (remember A,T,C,& G?); chromosomes are formed by huge strings of DNA wound together (not the other way around). You don't need a degree in Biology to know this, you just need to have stayed awake in high school.

Jim McConnell: They're us. We're them.

Jim McConnell: There's pressure in here.
Terri Fisher: Above Mars atmospheric? That's impossible.
Jim McConnell: We're millions of miles from Earth inside a giant white face. What's impossible?

Terri Fisher: The genetic difference between men and apes is only three percent. But that three percent gave us Einstein, Mozart.
Phil Ohlmyer: ...Jack The Ripper.