What Makes Hans Landa One Of The Most Terrifying Villains in Film History

For many people Quentin Tarantino is one of the greatest film makers or our generation. Films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Kill Bill will stand the test of time as some of the best movies ever made. His 6th film, Inglourious Basterds will go down as giving us one of the greatest cinematic villains ever, Hans Landa played by Christoph Waltz. Christoph would go on to win the Academy Award for his performance in Inglourious Basterds, and the movie would not have been successful with anyone else in the role. Tarantino knew the entire film would hang on this performance, and he found the perfect actor to play Hans Landa in Christoph Waltz.

#InglouriousBasterds #QuentenTarantino #Nerdstalgic

Written by Chris Teregis
Edited by Dan Smiley

[Nerdstalgic]

Name a villain more terrifying than Hans Landa…

[nickkestler]

Maybe I'm wrong, but what made his character different than most was that he wasn't motivated by hatred. He just seemed like a job perfectionist. Like he could not care any less who he worked for or what he was assigned to hunt down, he was going to complete the task with full devotion. The scariness of his character is his friendliness.

[colinwills]

Inglorious Basterds has three of Tarantino’s best scenes ever. That chilling opening, then the scene where Landa orders the strudel, and the behemoth of a scene that ends with massacre in the bar.

[onionhater]

That minimal shift in his facial expression before saying the line “you’re sheltering enemies of the state” gave me chills like nothing before or after. It was such a subtle change but in that half second he lost all the humanity in his face and went ice cold… phenomenal acting, well deserved Oscar!

[robfielding]

One of the greatest roles in a film … he was immaculate and totally chilling with his malevolence

[dm]

If you want to see his range, watch Inglorious Bastards and Django unchained. The same actor goes from an SS monster to a genuine, warm friend who hates what is done to slaves and both performances are so strong it's hard to believe it's the same man.

[BeanMartinVEVO]

One of my favourite details about this scene is when Hans says "I bid you adieu" before having his men kill the family. Adieu is a permanent farewell that is used when you won't see someone again, but he tells Shoshanna "Au Revior" which means "until we meet again."

[bunnylegion]

I once read a comment that said “I could listen to Christoph Waltz talk about drywall paste peeling and I would still be entertained.” It’s true. The man is so charming in such a strange, albeit charismatic way.

[chz]

The things I would do to wipe my memory of this film just so I could watch this scene without knowing how it ends again

[megasean]

The fact Christoph Waltz spoke four different languages in this movie, English, German, French and Italian, just shows how intelligent he is. Not many can boast having acting skills to win an oscar _and_ being quadrilingual.

[camilap.]

He’s probably one of the best characters ever written. And one of the most terrifying too.
Christoph Waltz is a gift to the world!

[HailAnts]

Waltz, when speaking normally, has boyish good looks. He not only appears friendly but he has an almost child-like warmth and wonder in his eyes.

But in an instant, when his expression switches to, not even anger, but simply seriousness, he looks like a monstrous serial killer.

He so deserved that Oscar..

[Leto]

His intelligence, lack of empathy, and arrogance makes him such a deadly combination, especially since he's so aware of these traits.
I had this video in my watch later list on Netflix for a while, forgot that I had, and just checked that I still have it, and now I've decided I have something to watch later today. I've never seen the film before, yet I came to love Quentin Tarantino movies for their dialogue first, and their build up tension second.

[jacobt]

The best part about the end of this scene is that "au revoir" translates closer to "until I see you again" than goodbye, So hans is literally saying he will find her no matter what here. Absolute masterpiece of a scene.

[emma_nutella]

The fact that the audience could never tell what he was thinking and that’s what makes him so terrifying, the strudel scene was so tense and cemented him as a terrifying villain

[Hazeleyedbri]

No one else can play this ROLE. Christophe Waltz was THE PERFECT CHOICE FOR HANS LANDA. I knew, without seeing any other movies that year, tha his performance was Oscar worthy

[vydave]

The scariest aspect of Hans Landa was that, unlike conventional villains, you would (as a viewer) be terrified of the man just when it was too late, and something bad was about to happen.

[thegatesofsleep]

Christoph Waltz is one of the best actors I have ever seen. His performance in this film as well as Django Unchained was impeccable. I often remember the film for his roles in it alone. His acting brought me to re watch Django several times.

[veea]

I just saw this a few days ago but when he meets the farmer's girls he checks their pulse when he grabs their hands to see if they are frightened and might be hiding something. That little detail is absolutely brilliant.

[nolby]

Waltz played this character ao scarily well. The opening scene is 100% factual and I could not have imagined anyone else is Christophes role. His character was brilliant, ultra smart and scary without telling, holding a gun, a knife or any weapon. His face when it changes to dead serious when they're both smoking their pipes was one of the most intense movie scenes I've ever seen. Pierre himself played his character to elite levels, his facial expressions alone when he's forced to reveal the spot where he was hiding the Jewish family tells an entire story in its own within only the 1 minute you see of his saddening expression. Tarantino is a genius and this may very well be his finest movie.