In general, you can think of the bridge as the heaviest, and nearly the stiffest, brace on the top. As such it changes the way the top vibrates, and changing bridges can certainly alter the tone. My experience is that, as with most single elements of the design, the bridge won't make or break the sound by itself unless it's really messed up. A bridge that goes all the way across the top (yes, I've seen that!) can really kill the sound, but in general the usual sorts of things only make a little bit of difference, and it can be hard to sort out what the contribution of the bridge by itself is.
The holes in the ends of the Gibson bridge are in emulation of the 'mustaches' on the bridges of early guitars and lutes. They do probably affect the sound, but are primarily decorative.
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