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 set of rapidly switching shots is used to show days or even months of training within just a few minutes. This type of editing is called a training montage.

The training montage is now a mature editing technique in commercial cinema. A montage of this kind starts with the protagonist’s preparation and ends when a certain goal is achieved. The most famous example is probably the sequence in Rocky. The most common training montages focus on physical training—boxing, for instance—subjects that are inherently hot-blooded and intense. The emphasis is on the process of progress toward the goal, often conveyed through repeated shots. In terms of form, the editing usually breaks down the action of one scene and intercuts it in parallel with other scenes. As time passes, the results of the training gradually become evident. Of course, it can’t do without a piece of rousing, inspirational music.

This kind of montage usually ends with some form of victory for the protagonist, confirming that they are fully prepared for the challenge to come. 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 hallmarks of classic 1980s action films. They often popularized a song or score. The band Goat, for example, released a single of the same name in 2021 as a tribute to this type of training montage.

Let’s look at some variations on 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, we can also feel the changing relationship between teacher and student. It not only presents character growth in a limited time, but also strengthens the emotional bond between the two. Another variation is the more dramatically charged hero-and-villain training montage. Sometimes, before the final showdown in a film, it’s not just the protagonist who is ramping up their training, but also their opponent. Using a training montage at this point, comparing and contrasting the two sides’ preparation, is undoubtedly a great way to build toward a climactic confrontation.

We can look at Creed II as an example, which highlights character differences through a training montage. This sequence uses extensive parallel editing; multiple scenes are constantly intercut, allowing the audience to directly compare the two characters’ progress. The editing logic of this training montage is actually very clear. At first, the montage shows the contrast between the two: the antagonist Viktor is always in the dominant position, while Creed is clearly at a disadvantage. Then Creed begins to intensify his training and keeps getting stronger, and the sequence ends with his successful training—he is ready for the decisive battle.

In films, segment montages are an indispensable editing technique. Typically, at about one-third or two-thirds of the way through the story, a montage is used to quickly cut through events, compressing 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 a hacker, in essence the sequence is still a kind of training montage. The accompanying track “In Motion” was also very famous at the time. In Parasite, for instance, the filmmakers likewise rely heavily on parallel editing and music in their montage sequences.