It’s been more than 30 years, but “Top Gun” is back, and to celebrate its return, Tom Cruise and company are bringing some Hollywood glam to an aircraft carrier.

When it comes to making an entrance, Tom Cruise is all showbiz, landing by helicopter on the USS Midway aircraft carrier in San Diego. The star was there to walk the red carpet for the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Tom Cruise: “It just came together, and it just was like, ‘OK, it is now or never.'” 

How about a picture with the entire carrier crew?

Tom’s co-star, Jennifer Connelly, was there, too.

Jennifer Connelly: “It’s really very moving, the journey that Maverick goes on in this film, which may surprise some audiences, I think.”

Miles Teller plays Nick Goose, Bradshaw’s son.

Miles Teller: “With all the new cast, we’re all kind of doing this thing for the first time together. It was an immense learning experience, and to do it with T.C. himself, was really just, you know, the best.”

The film’s release was delayed multiple times because of the pandemic. Tom would not give up.

Tom Cruise: “We are making ‘Top Gun,’ we are finishing ‘Top Gun.'”

Tom promised, no matter what, he’d make it happen.

Tom Cruise: “I give you my word. I’m going to give it everything I have to deliver for you, and for the audience that has been waiting 36 years.”

“Top Gun: Maverick” is, of course, the long awaited follow-up to the 1986 blockbuster film “Top Gun,” also starring Cruise as the young hotshot, talented pilot Maverick shaking up the navy.

Tom was only 24 at the time.

Tom Cruise: “It’s kind of amazing, it’s surreal. It’s, I don’t know, it’s surreal that here we are, and I’m doing this, and it’s surreal that it’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick.'”

This time, Maverick’s older and wiser, training Top Gun pilots and chasing ghosts. Ultimately, Maverick is sent on a dangerous mission to shoot down the enemy and face his past.  

Both “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” were shot in San Diego, using an aircraft carrier like Midway as the main backdrop. 

“Top Gun: Maverick” cruises into theaters May 27.

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