What did I miss from Christoph Waltz's performance in Inglourious Basterds?

I want to preface this by saying that I did enjoy Inglourious Basterds, as well as Christoph Waltz's performance in it. However, I have seen a lot of talk from across the internet about how amazingly intimidating he was in the film, especially in the first scene. While I though he was good in the film, I didn't think he was all too remarkable or even the best of the film. I really don't see what made his performance any better than Mélanie Laurent's, Michael Fassbender's, or Daniel Brühl's. As for the opening scene, I agreed that it was well-made, but certainly not the "greatest opening scene of all time," as I've heard it called.

I'm just wondering, then, what did I miss? What did I miss from the opening scene, and what did I miss from Waltz's performance that gets the two praised so heavily?