9. Col. Hans Landa - Inglourious Basterds
Despite Brad Pitt's snarling and confident performance as Aldo Raine, it's Christoph Waltz in his breakthrough role as Hans Landa that is unforgettable. The standout performance in Quentin Tarantino's flawed war epic, every minute he is on screen it's impossible to look away. Charismatic, funny and sinister all in the same scene, Landa is a unique creation brought to life through an inspired performance from Waltz. Whatever else can be said of Tarantino, he always gets great performances from his actors and his chemistry with Waltz seems second to none. Despite often being funny and possessing the ability to make you laugh out loud, Landa remains an incredibly sinister presence throughout as we see through his flashes of violence and psychological manipulation. A character as contradictory as Landa is always hard to top and even in such an ensemble piece like Inglourious Basterds, he is the clear stand out and the character we want to know more about. Brad Pitt may put in a great performance as Raine as we see him do something that he's never done before, but Landa, as a character, is Tarantino's most detailed creation.