Yeah, they really did take some liberties. lmao! I mean, just Arwen alone was bad enough and if you never read the appendices in LotR you would not even understand the flashbacks in the movie.
They’d never attempt the Silmarillion. Too long, too depressing.
The visuals for the Elves were pretty good.
I mean just how fair can mere mortals be made to look (sans CGI assistance)
When I read the books I realy dont try to visualize the Elves in my mind - certainly they werent like what we call fairies/elves in childrens tales. History of Middle Earth volumes give you some better idea of the Elven-race.
I think Tolkien meant for the “fair folk” be at the edge of our mental grasp. But if you gotta make a film you gotta come up with something, right?