At once a satirist, a romantic and a realist Rob always turned the dial up to 11

FILMMAKER Rob Reiner’s movies did more than just reshape modern cinema, they became the montage to many people’s lives.

- By Christopher Bucktin

Reiner and wife Michele's murders have devastated the worlds of politics, film, comedy and TV. In Reiner, they have lost one of their most recognisable, creative and dependable figures.

The impact of his remarkable career, spanning, acting, writing, directing and political activism, cannot be overstated.

Few produced a run of films as consistent, influential or varied. There was 1984's satirical, hilarious mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap about a fading UK rock band’s disastrous US tour. It made stars of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, who went on to voice many Simpsons’ characters, and Reiner himself as Marty DiBergi.

It also spawned many comic lines, such as Guest's character telling Reiner’s that his amp “goes up to 11”. This year the sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, came out.

What followed This Is Spinal Tap, which confused the studio but delighted critics, was an extraordinary sequence that would secure Reiner’s place in film history.

The emotional coming-of-age Stand by Me in 1986, starring the late River Phoenix, preceded the fairy-tale charm of The Princess Bride, with Cary Elwes and Robin Wright, a year later.