What Is a “Training Montage,” and Why Is It Used So Often in Movies?

In a movie, we often see something like this: the protagonist needs to go through a period of training to become stronger. In terms of editing, this is usually shown with a series of rapidly cutting shots that condense days or even months of training into just a few minutes. This editing technique is called a training montage.

The training montage is now a well-established editing device in commercial cinema. A montage like this begins with the protagonist’s preparation and ends with the achievement of a specific goal. The most famous example is probably the sequence in Rocky. The most common training montages focus on physical training—boxing and other naturally “high-adrenaline” subjects—where the emphasis is on showing the process of progressing toward a goal, often through repeated shots. Formally, the editing will often break up the actions of one scene and intercut them in parallel with other scenes. As time passes, the results of the training gradually become evident. And of course, it can’t do without a stirring, inspirational piece of music.

This kind of montage usually ends with some kind of victory for the protagonist, affirming that they are fully prepared for the upcoming challenge. For example, Rocky ends with a slow-motion shot of the protagonist raising his arms in triumph.

In a way, these training montages are also one of the defining features of some classic action films from the 1980s. They often turned the accompanying song or score into a hit. For instance, the band Goat released a single of the same name in 2021 as a tribute to this kind of training montage.

Let’s look at some variations of the training montage, such as the mentor–student montage. This type no longer focuses solely on the transformation of a single character. As time passes in the montage, we can sense the evolving relationship between teacher and student. It not only presents character growth within a limited runtime, but also strengthens the emotional bond between them. Another variation is a more dramatically charged “hero vs. villain” training montage. Sometimes, before the climactic showdown, it’s not just the hero who steps up their training, but their opponent as well. Using a training montage at this point to compare and contrast their preparation is undoubtedly an effective way to build up to a climactic confrontation.

We can look at Creed II as an example of using a training montage to highlight differences between characters. This sequence employs extensive parallel editing, rapidly cutting between multiple scenes so the audience can directly compare the progress of the two fighters. The editing logic of this training montage is actually very clear. First, the early part emphasizes their differences: the antagonist Viktor is consistently shown in a dominant position, while Creed is clearly at a disadvantage. Then Creed intensifies his training and keeps getting stronger, and the montage ultimately ends with his training success, signaling that he’s ready for the final fight.

In film, the “segment montage” is an indispensable editing technique. Typically, at around one-third or two-thirds of the way through the story, a montage sequence is used to compress time and plot. These segment montages are essentially variations of the training montage, and they appear frequently even in non-sports films. A typical example is The Social Network. Although it’s about hacking, in essence the relevant sequence functions as a training montage, and its accompanying track “In Motion” was also extremely well-known at the time. In films like Parasite, similar sequences also rely heavily on parallel editing and music for their effect.