I haven't seen the movie since around the time of its release, but I recall the Bridge scene being one of the better played moments. McKellan did a good job of showing Gandalf's fear and humanity.
I don't think you can fault PJ too strongly for the way he played the scene (without having seen it in a while -- I really need to rent the DVD, I reckon). Anyway, the scene highlights the difficulty of adapting book to film. A straight adaptation of the text:
Quote:
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He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. 'Fly, you fools! ' he cried, and was gone.
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...would be hard to pull off to say the least. It's easy to imagine Gandalf's dialogue looking more likel, "Fly you fooooooooooollllsssss!!!", the last sounds trailing off as he falls -- silly. You have to give him his moment to show that he knows what's about to happen and that his last thoughts are -- very typically of Gandalf -- not sentimental, even on his own behalf.