As shown in the end credits of * The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension*:
Buckaroo Banzai End Credits - video Dailymotion
I’ll defer to film buffs here, but at the time I assumed they were taking some old “heroes walk toward the camera” trope and exaggerating it.
Ahhh, it did come out shortly after The Right Stuff had the slo-mo astronaut walk…
The end of the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou pays homage to the scene. Both also include Jeff Goldblum.
I was thinking about fan groups or conventioneers…but that is great!
The tv show Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955 to 1959) opened with a very similar scene
