It is no exaggeration to say that director Zack Snyder is a man of extremes. His enthusiastic fans are enthused by everything he makes, but the reaction from critics and other audiences is decidedly mixed. Such is also the case with Snyder's new Star Wars-inspired sci-fi epic "Rebel Moon": while it has been well received on Netflix, it has received poor reviews from critics and audiences alike on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.

If you were intrigued by the fact that "Rebel Moon" created a new science fiction universe that departed from the existing franchise and wanted to be swept away by the story of a group of misfits taking on the mighty forces of the galaxy, but felt overwhelmed by Snyder's vision, you might be more satisfied by other Here are five films.

Director Gareth Edwards made a major contribution to "Star Wars" with "Rogue One," and he brings the same excitement and surprise to the original story in "The Creator." Like "Rebel Moon," "The Creator" finds compassion for artificial life and adds a broadly resonant social commentary on the need for understanding and cooperation.

John David Washington plays a former military operative who is ordered to locate and destroy a secret weapon that turns out to be the child of an android. He defies his superiors, escapes, and fights to end the conflict between humans and androids. Edwards blends CGI effects with real-world locations to create a futuristic setting that feels more familiar than the one shot in the studio. The world-building is impeccable, the visuals are quietly shocking, and the protagonist's emotional arc is affecting and understated.

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Before co-starring in Top Gun: Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski made this underrated sci-fi film before Maverick. Set on an overpopulated planet, a pair of workers are harvesting the planet's last resources before it is completely abandoned as humanity's new home. Jack, played by Cruise, and his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), at least think that's what they're doing.

"Oblivion" has thrilling action scenes that are a precursor to Cruise and Kosinski's work on "Maverick," but it is also a complex meditation on identity in which Cruise's strongest performance shines. Kosinski places his characters in an impressive science fiction setting, filled with inorganic interiors that contrast with the earthy ruins of the planet that surrounds them. It is more tactile and visceral than any of the works in Rebel Moon.

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The characters in "Rebel Moon" are scraggly outsiders scraping by at the edge of the galaxy, but they are no match for the protagonists of this charming and inventive low-budget science fiction film. Writer-directors Zeke Earle and Christopher Caldwell bring an old-fashioned sense of life to the ships and equipment the characters use to mine dangerous resources on a remote moon in their dreams of getting rich.

Pedro Pascal plays one such prospector, who unexpectedly ends up taking care of a teenage girl (Sophie Thatcher of "Yellowjackets") after he kills her father in a botched robbery. Earl and Caldwell portray the wary but ultimately tender relationship between the two protagonists as they resort to increasingly desperate measures to get the jewelry they need and escape the dangerous and inhospitable moon.

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Westerns were a major influence on "Rebel Moon," and this underrated sci-fi thriller is essentially a Western at the edge of space, with Sean Connery as an honorable lawman who stands against pervasive corruption. Connelly plays Gen. William T. O'Neill, who is assigned to a remote mining colony on Jupiter's moon Io, where he begins investigating the deaths of several miners. The conglomerate that owns the mine operates the mine under cruel working conditions, and O'Neill's investigation ultimately brings him into conflict with the company.

Connelly gives a fine performance as the reluctant but determined hero who knows his efforts may be futile, but is determined to do the right thing anyway. Peter Hyams directs this noir-like thriller set in a devastated near-future.

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Lithuanian filmmakers Cristina Vuojte and Bruno Sampere have created an apocalyptic world of haves and have-nots in their first English-language film. Their sense of design surpasses that of "Rebel Moon". Set in a future Earth devastated by a man-made ecological disaster, "Vesper" stars Rafiera Chapman as a teenage protagonist living outside a massive citadel that protects the elite.

As in "Rebel Moon," crops are the key to this world, and Vesper discovers how to unleash the genetically engineered seeds that keep the poor hungry and dependent through programmed restrictions. Vuozité and Samper immerse the audience in a fascinating and ethereal world, where a grand mystery lies just beyond the horizon of a simple and contained narrative.

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