When given a limited budget, many people are more creative. Look at Star Wars: when George Lucas was a struggling amateur with a limited budget making special effects from scratch, he made great movies. When you gave him all the money in the universe, he made absolute crap. Im not sure if JJ Abrams is the same way; I havent seen enough of his stuff. But Into Darkness definitely suffers from too much money. Theyve got great actors who have great chemistry if you put them in a room together, but there are long scenes full of way too many special effects, theres practically a new location for every scene, and there are so many technologies you lose track. Khan was working on far more primitive effects, and had far fewer sets. The result was a movie with a lot more drama, and a far more digestible and ultimately moving plot. When you cant deck the movie out in tons of eye candy, you have to rely on the drama and on the power of individual interactions. When you dont have that much money, you have to be smart about how you use it, and that works wonderfully in Khan.