I don't really think that this was intended as a political statement, it was never going to be more than a 'disaster movie' for TV. In that respect it succeeds. Ch 9 did a good job on the action scenes (mostly if not all Canberra Feb 2003 - certainly the burning embers blowing across the road and past the windscreen of the truck were Cbr) and the dramatisation and depiction of fire-ground action was true to life - and life's a bitch under those conditions. Can't comment about the Emergency Response Room scenes but looked pretty representative of an AIIMS set-up. It was a good drama, well written and well acted. Without spoiling the story the political aspects portrayed certainly echo a lot of 'nasties' which surface in most states - and ably portray the 'say one thing and mean another' pollie-speak which seems to be so common. As a rural firefighter I can't say I 'enjoyed' the movie - too close to my everyday realities - but I did think it was a worthwhile watch.

this could possibly be the worst TV movie ever. Way to many plot holes and terribly written i cant believe this ran for 2 hours! they cut so much out of it. Im ashamed to even be in NSW its a lame attempt in trying to make a movie based on 2012 (so called Apocalypse) and on the bushfires over the past several years. "Set 5 years in the future. "After years without rain fire engulfs the entire city." this really confused me the fire didn't even reach sydney! just smoke. And what is it with the soap stars? they brung 2 home and away stars who barely had a role. there was no emotion in this. The only good thing in the movie was "Cameron daddo" he done a great job

I'm not quite sure if I watched the same Australian film as the majority of the other reviewers (or if they in fact are employees of channel nine!) This was a really disappointing film...The casting was spot on... the acting was great... the script was useless.It was badly paced... some story lines were wrapped up too quickly, others not even explained...I feel like there was never any connection felt between any of the characters or story lines... if I felt anything it was because of the wonderful acting on the show.

Scorched premiered on the 31st of August 2008 on channel nine. I saw the advertisement for it on the television and was immediately drawn to it because of the list of well known Australian actors forming the cast. (Cameron Daddo, Georgie Parker, Libby Tanner, Rachel Carpani and Vince Colosimo) The tele – feature is set in Australia's largest city, Sydney, in 2012. The city is in drought and hasn't had rain for 240 days. There are only two weeks of water left. It is Christmas time and the city is circled by massive, out of control bush fires. Scorched follows the stories of different families as they fight for their lives and their houses in a bush fire emergency dubbed 'Armageddon'. We watch as fire fighters desperately fight to control the fires, until suddenly, there is no more water left to fight with. In a twisted web, uncovered by a CPN (fictional news network) journalist, the city's water has been lost in a deal made by the premier of NSW. I believe this is one of the greatest films Australia has produced. It excellently portrays the struggles of the people trying to save their properties and lives. It shows the bravery, dedication and fighting spirit of our fire fighters in a superb manner. Having experienced Sydney's summer bushfires, I feel this is an outstanding portrayal of the real disaster of bush fires. The theme of the film is also centred around water management and lack of fresh water in Australia, and is a way of showing potential problems of the future. All in all the film was exceptional. The acting was brilliant, along with direction, writing and producing. This film is one of my favourites of all time, and is a real example of the excellent productions coming out of Australia today. There will be a DVD of the film released in November. The film is also a multi platform drama. There is an online drama that leads up to the film, and websites that relate to the events portrayed in Scorched. These links are available on the channel nine website.