Corrected entry: When the attack helicopters go after Godzilla they use heat seeking missiles. Surely they wouldn't even notice a cold blooded lizard? Also when Godzilla chases them why don't they just go up out of reach, rather than running away below the rooftops?
lionhead
15th Dec 2002
Godzilla (1998)
Correction: The force of habit, most of the things they usually fight have warm components (soldiers, attack dogs, running engines, even mere campfires), and they don't have the time or know-how to custom make the missiles. Arctic researchers have made a similar mistake when tracking seals, they tried tracking them via infrared, which works in warmer climates perfectly well, but since it's obviously urgent that Polar warm-blooded creatures not lose heat, it was of limited to no use, and the scientists had to use other methods; which they, unlike the soldiers, had the time to find.
They should have immediately noticed the thing is too cold to use heat seekers on. They should have switched to cannons.
Correction: Cold-blooded doesn't mean cold. A reptile is as warm as his environment. A little added exertion would make Godzilla warm enough for the missiles to work. What's more, the iguana she once was has turned dinosaurian, with legs under the body. As such, she could easily be warm-blooded now like dinosaurs are thought to be.
It's mentioned by the helicopter pilot in the movie that the lizard is colder than the buildings around it. She isn't warm blooded, she isn't expelling any heat at all.
lionhead