binutils - recommended version is 2.11.x.
gcc - recommended versions are 2.95 and 3.4+. 2.96 and 3.0.x are known to generate faulty code, 3.1 and 3.2 also had problems, 3.3 some minor ones. On PowerPC, use 4.x.
Xorg/XFree86 - recommended version is 4.3 or later. Make sure the development packages are installed, too, otherwise it won't work. You don't absolutely need X, some video output drivers work without it.
make - recommended version is 3.79.x or later. To build the XML documentation you need 3.80.
FreeType - optional, required to have a font for the OSD and subtitles. At least 2.0.9 is required.
libjpeg - optional JPEG en/decoder, required for the JPEG video output driver
libpng - optional (M)PNG en/decoder, required for the PNG video output driver
lame - 3.90 or later is recommended, necessary for encoding MP3 audio with MEncoder.
zlib - recommended, necessary for compressed MOV header and PNG support
LIVE555 Streaming Media - optional, needed for some RTSP/RTP streams
directfb - optional, use 0.9.13 or later.
cdparanoia - optional, for CDDA support
libxmms - optional, for XMMS input plugin support. At least 1.2.7 is required.
libsmb - optional, for smb networking support
ALSA - optional, for ALSA audio output support. At least 0.9.0rc4 is required.