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

In a movie, we often see a situation like this: the protagonist needs to undergo a period of training to become stronger. In terms of editing, this is usually expressed through a series of rapidly intercut shots that compress several days or even months of training into just a few minutes. This editing technique is called a training montage.

The training montage is a now well-established editing method in commercial cinema. A montage of this kind begins 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 conditioning—boxing and other inherently “hype” subjects—emphasizing the process of progress toward the goal, often conveyed through repeated shots. Formally, the editing will often break up the action of one scene and intercut it in parallel with other scenes. As time passes, the results of the training gradually become evident. And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a piece of exhilarating, inspirational music.

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

In a sense, these training montages are also one of the hallmarks of classic ’80s action films. They often popularized a song or score track. For example, the band Goat 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 kind of montage no longer focuses solely on one character’s transformation. Over the passage of time, we can also feel the evolving relationship between teacher and student. It not only shows character growth within a limited runtime, but also strengthens the emotional bond between the two characters. Another variation is the more dramatically charged “hero vs. villain” training montage. Sometimes, in the lead-up to the final showdown, it’s not just the protagonist who intensifies their training, but their opponent as well. Using a training montage at this moment to contrast their respective preparation processes is undoubtedly an effective way to build toward a climactic confrontation.

We can look at Creed II as an example of using a training montage to highlight differences between characters. This sequence uses extensive parallel editing, rapidly cutting between 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 cuts emphasize the contrast between them: the antagonist Viktor is consistently in a dominant position, while Creed is clearly at a disadvantage. Then Creed begins to intensify his training, steadily growing stronger, and the sequence ultimately ends with his training paying off—he is now ready for the decisive match.

In film, the “sequence montage” is an indispensable editing technique. Typically, around the one-third or two-thirds mark of a story, a montage sequence is used to compress time and narrative development. These kinds of montage sequences are essentially variations on the training montage, and they show up frequently even in non-sports films. A classic example is The Social Network. Although it deals with hackers, at its core that sequence is still a training montage. The accompanying track “In Motion” was very famous at the time as well. Similarly, in Parasite, the filmmakers rely on parallel editing and music in their montage sequences to achieve a comparable effect.