I feel that “saved in the edit” is indeed a phrase that carries certain anti-GL-credit connotations.
Not necessarily. It depends on the context and how a person use that term to support his argument.
What i remind from the ROTS Making of (“Within a minute” i guess) Lucas emphasized himself that he likes to shape a movie in the editing and post-production phase. His specific quote was something like “Most directors shot the movie. I shot AROUND the movie.” So he knows that he can balance out certain shortcomings he wasn’t aware during prinicipal photography in the editing process hence SAVE the movie.