What Is a “Training Montage,” and Why Do Movies Always Use It?

In a movie, we often see a situation like this: the protagonist needs to go through a period of training to become stronger. In terms of editing, a series of rapidly switching shots is used to show days or even months of training within just a few minutes. This editing technique is called a training montage.

The training montage is now a well-established editing method in commercial filmmaking. A montage of this kind begins with the protagonist embarking on some kind of 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—such as boxing and other inherently rousing subjects. The emphasis is on the process of progressing toward a goal, often conveyed through repeated shots. In terms of form, the editing typically breaks down actions from one scene and intercuts them with actions from other scenes as parallel editing. As time passes, the results of the training gradually become evident. And of course, it can’t do without a piece of exhilarating, inspirational music.

This type of montage usually ends with some form 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 sense, these training montages are also one of the hallmarks of certain classic action films from the 1980s. They often catapult a song or a score into popularity. For instance, the band Goat released a single of the same name in 2021 to pay tribute to this kind of training montage.

Let’s look at some variations of the training montage, such as the mentor–student montage—this kind of montage no longer focuses solely on one character’s transformation. As time passes in the sequence, we can also feel the constantly evolving relationship between the teacher and the student. It not only shows the characters’ growth within a limited runtime, but also strengthens the emotional bond between them. Another variation is the more dramatically charged hero-and-villain training montage. Sometimes, before the film’s final showdown, it’s not only the protagonist who intensifies their training, but also their opponent. Using a training montage at this point to contrast the two sides’ preparation processes is undoubtedly an excellent way to build toward a climactic confrontation.

We can look at Creed II as an example, which uses a training montage to highlight the differences between characters. This sequence contains extensive parallel editing, rapidly intercutting multiple scenes so that 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 of the montage emphasizes the disparity between them: the antagonist Viktor is always in the dominant position, while Creed is clearly at a disadvantage. Then Creed begins to intensify his training, growing stronger and stronger, and the montage ultimately ends with his training success, signaling that he is ready for the decisive battle.

In films, segment montages are an indispensable editing technique. Usually, around the first third or second third of the story, a montage is used to rapidly cut together a sequence in order to compress time and condense the plot. These kinds of segment montages are essentially all variations of the training montage, and they appear frequently even in non-sports films. A classic example is The Social Network. Although it’s about hackers, in essence that sequence is still a kind of training montage. The accompanying track “In Motion” was also very famous at the time. Similarly, in Parasite, their use of parallel editing and music in certain sequences likewise relies on this same expressive approach.